Massive response to HTA Clinical Trials funding opportunities

News release from the National Coordinating Centre for Health Technology Assessment

9 May 2006

The NHS Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme has received a huge response to the recent launch of its Clinical Trials stream of work. The new funding opportunity, announced in March, and supporting the Department of Health’s Best Research for Best Health research strategy, has resulted in an enormous volume of research proposals being submitted for initial consideration.

The submissions received cover a wide range of health interventions and will help to reduce uncertainty in many important clinical areas. The HTA programme will be funding a proportion of the proposals, instigating pragmatic clinical trials that will assess the effectiveness of technologies within the NHS, with a focus on clinical decision-making.

The development of HTA Clinical Trials directly supports the Department of Health’s recently published Best Research for Best Health research strategy, and forms a key component of the new National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The national research strategy sets out the direction that NHS R&D will take over the next five years. Its aim is to create a system that supports leading-edge research, focused on the needs of patients and the public. Within this the NIHR is seeking to establish the UK as a world-leader in health research, providing the NHS with the support and infrastructure it needs to conduct first-class research alongside high-quality patient care.

Professor Tom Walley, HTA programme director, says: “We are delighted we’ve received such a widespread response from the research community as we substantially develop this new reactive portfolio of pragmatic clinical trials, in addition to our established routes. This development is essential for translating research into benefit for patients, and for supporting the NIHR.”

The enormous response to HTA Clinical Trials has also helped to establish and strengthen important links within the research community. These include both NHS and academic Research and Development Support Units (RDSUs), the Trial Managers Network, and the national research networks. Many of the research proposals received are from applicants who have not previously been involved with any of the HTA programme’s activities.

The HTA programme will be commissioning pragmatic clinical trials on an ongoing basis. Proposal forms will be available for download from the HTA programme website at any time. Submission deadlines and board meeting dates will be advertised and proposals submitted by the specified deadline will be considered at the next appropriate board. For more details, go to www.hta.ac.uk/funding.

Notes:

  1. Pragmatic trials test whether an intervention is effective in clinical practice, balancing relevance of results in real life with reliability and accuracy in academic terms. Participants reflect the population for whom the treatment is intended and exclusion criteria are kept to a minimum, so the findings of these trials will translate directly into benefit for many patients.

  2. In tandem with the new pragmatic clinical trials funding, the HTA programme will continue to commission clinical trials as part of its needs-led funding stream. These trials are commissioned to meet identified needs for patients and the NHS and will be advertised via standard calls for proposals.

Notes for editors


  1. The HTA programme is a programme of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and produces high quality research information about the effectiveness, costs, and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage and provide care in the NHS. It is the largest of the NIHR programmes and publishes the results of its research in the Health Technology Assessment journal, with more than 400 issues published to date. The journal’s 2007 Impact Factor (3.87) ranked it in the top 10% of medical and health-related journals. All issues are available for download free of charge from the website, www.hta.ac.uk The HTA programme is coordinated by the National Coordinating Centre for Health Technology Assessment (NCCHTA), based at the University of Southampton.
  2. The National Institute for Health Research provides the framework through which the research staff and research infrastructure of the NHS in England is positioned, maintained and managed as a national research facility.  The NIHR provides the NHS with the support and infrastructure it needs to conduct first-class research funded by the Government and its partners alongside high-quality patient care, education and training.  Its aim is to support outstanding individuals (both leaders and collaborators), working in world class facilities (both NHS and university), conducting leading edge research focused on the needs of patients. www.nihr.ac.uk

Contact details

Naomi Stockley, Programme Manager (Communications)
Telephone: 02380 595 646, Email: ns5@soton.ac.uk

Helen Nikandrou, Assistant Programme Manager (Communications)
Telephone: 02380 595 584, Email: h.nikandrou@soton.ac.uk

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