The Academy of Medical Sciences and the Shelford Group have today announced a new partnership combining our respective expertise to strengthen research, innovation and patient care across the NHS.

The partnership, running for an initial five years, brings together the Academy’s policy, analysis and convening expertise, with the Shelford Group’s practical experience of research and innovation across ten of England’s leading teaching and research NHS trusts. The two organisations will work together on shared priorities, starting with reversing the decline in clinical academic posts, developing practical tools to support research careers, and supporting the Academy’s new Translational Catalyst Programme to speed up the route from bench to bedside.  

Together, we will work to bridge the gap between discovery, implementation and patient benefit.

We will explore practical ways to strengthen the research environment, support research careers, address barriers to translating evidence and innovation into patient care, and help the NHS make better use of the UK’s world-leading science base.

Our focus will be on making a real contribution to health and research. By sharing evidence and learning and bringing together experts and practitioners, we will support system improvement and explore approaches that could inform wider change across the NHS.

The partnership also reflects a shared commitment to strengthening careers for clinical academics and other medical scientists, and to supporting the NHS as a strong environment for research and innovation. Ensuring discoveries are translated into better health outcomes can only be done my enabling clinicians and other healthcare professionals to combine research with patient care.  

Over the coming months, we will engage with colleagues across government, the NHS and the wider research community to shape priorities and identify opportunities for practical action. Our shared ambition is to strengthen an NHS research environment in which researchers are well supported, careers are attractive and flexible, and discoveries are translated into patient care faster and more consistently.

Jonathan Brotherton, Chief Executive of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and Chair of the Shelford Group, said:

Our new partnership with the Academy of Medical Sciences will see us work together to create an environment in which research can thrive across the NHS and, ultimately, deliver greater benefits for patients.  

“Research is fundamental to improving patient care, but we know there are significant challenges in ensuring clinicians have the time, opportunities and support they need to purse research careers.  By bringing together the expertise and influence of the Academy with the scale, clinical leadership and research capability of our Shelford Group Trusts, we have a real opportunity to tackle some of these barriers and help strengthen the pathway from scientific discovery to improvements in care.

Rosalind Campion, Chief Executive, Academy of Medical Sciences, said:  

The NHS does its best work when it is an active partner in research and discovery, and clinical academics are the people who make this happen. Over the next five years, the Academy will be working with the Shelford Group to make research careers in the NHS more attractive and flexible, and to shorten the route from a promising discovery to a patient who benefits from it. Together we can show what good looks like locally and help spread it across the system.

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