LARGE, well-established research centres will benefit most from plans to create a national fund to finance research within the health service, according to a House of Lords committee. In a report published last week, the Lords warn that community-based research will suffer as a result.
The fund was the brainchild of a task force led by Tony Culyer, a health economist at the University of York, which examined the impact of the government鈥檚 health reforms on medical research. The pot would be filled by a levy imposed on health authorities and fundholding general practices, and researchers would compete for a share.
But the Lords鈥� science and technology committee says that it is unrealistic to expect researchers working in community settings, such as in general practice, to compete with those at major academic centres. The Lords propose that a separate stream of money should be earmarked for community studies.
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Sandy Macara, chairman of the British Medical Association鈥檚 Council, welcomed this proposal. 鈥淭his way community research will get a look-in.鈥�
The committee also criticises the Culyer report for its proposal to control how much the NHS supports research funded by charities or the Medical Research Council. The Lords call for such control to be exercised 鈥渨ith a very light hand鈥�. They also want the NHS to favour the MRC over the medical charities.
Medical charities criticised this suggestion. 鈥淚t will be a major loss of opportunity for charities such as ours which do more research into oncology than either the NHS or the MRC,鈥� says Gordon McVie of the Cancer Research Campaign.