Reforming research in the NHS

EDITOR—Cole highlights some of the challenges to the proposals to reform research support from the Department of Health,1–3 but the need to restore academic medicine does not reflect an intrinsic failure. Rather, it has been a victim of financial constraints, and clinical research has been marginalised in an increasingly citation and commercial focused academic environment. The proposed creation of a virtual National Institute of Health Research could provide a powerful national voice for academic medicine at a …