The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has published a new resource kit to help doctors make the case for undertaking research alongside their clinical practice.
Clinical research is the cornerstone of medical advancement in the NHS. It provides a number of benefits, including to patients, doctors, the health service, and society more widely. It leads to better outcomes and experiences for patients, increases productivity in the NHS, improves job satisfaction for doctors, and it's good for the economy. Evidence shows that for every £1 invested into medical research, a further 25p is returned every year, forever.
Despite these benefits, we consistently hear from our members and fellows about the difficulties of being able to participate in research. In our 2023 UK census of consultant physicians, 52% of respondents said that a lack of time in job plans was the biggest barrier to undertaking research. The RCP believes that all doctors should have the opportunity for protected time in their job plans or training programmes to undertake research.
The RCP’s resource kit is designed to help consultants and resident doctors make the case for why they should be able to undertake research. The resource kit:
- helps physicians to make the case for research time in meetings where job plans or training programmes are discussed
- sets out what the RCP is doing to campaign for research for all
- compiles a number of resources that can help physicians get more involved in research.
You can download the resource kit below. If you know of any other research opportunities that are relevant to physicians, please get in touch at policy@rcp.ac.uk.
Clinical research is one of the RCP’s policy and campaigns priorities for 2023-26. You can find out more about our policy and campaigns work on clinical research here.
The ‘Making the case for research: RCP resource kit’ was developed through the RCP Research and Academic Medicine Committee, which comprises the RCP academic vice president, external clinical academics, and membership and Patient and Carer Network representatives. The document was approved by RCP Council prior to publication.