Clinical research is not an optional extra

Clinical research underpins almost everything we do in the NHS, from diagnostics and therapeutics to service design and workforce development, while also driving economic growth through the life sciences sector. Yet the UK clinical research workforce is in decline, at a time of rising patient need. Financial pressures on universities, increasing clinical demand, fragile funding routes and inflexible training pathways, are making academic careers harder to enter and sustain. Valuable research delivered by resident doctors, consultants, SAS and locally employed doctors is also unrecognised and unsupported. Research should not be seen as an optional extra. It is mandated in policy, embedded in professional standards, and essential to improving outcomes. A whole workforce approach is needed. At the Royal College of Physicians, we are supporting doctors making the case for research in job planning and training, strengthening recognition and funding opportunities for early clinical research, and addressing structural barriers to academic careers through national policy engagement.