WIREDGOV

BHF are part of a group of leading medical research charities encouraging healthcare professionals who work in the NHS to get involved in research projects.

The NHS is a phenomenal resource for researchers with a large database of information that all UK patients belong to. That’s why we support a Vision document recently presented in Parliament by the Association of Medical Research Charities, which calls on the NHS to promote and use research.

The document includes calls for Clinical Commissioning Groups to consider relevant research findings when commissioning services, include research participation within NHS provider contracts and take part in research prioritisation exercises - among others.

The NHS should support medical research.

A survey of GPs, hospital doctors and nurses shows they unanimously agree the NHS should support medical research, but 91% say they feel they’ve experienced barriers to getting involved themselves, according to a survey we helped commission.

BHF's Medical Director, Professor Peter Weissberg, said: “It’s easier than you think to help with research. We’re not asking for all healthcare professionals to become outright researchers. But we do need them to understand the research world and how they can facilitate the use of patients and patient data for research.

“Researchers use patient data in a number of ways, from finding common factors across a large number of people that can help predict disease, to finding people that could be asked to take part in a research study. It’s vital we create a system where researchers have better access to patient data so we can use it to help find new life-saving treatments for heart patients.”

More information

Our report ‘Clear and Present Data’ outlines how information contained in our medical records has helped us better understand the factors that lead to heart and circulatory disease – and sets out what needs to happen to make sure we can all benefit from this information.