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The proportion of NHS doctors who carry out research has fallen by more than a quarter over the past 13 years, despite evidence suggesting hospitals with active research programmes deliver better patient outcomes.?

warns that NHS research and innovation is in jeopardy as clinical academics become increasingly rare in the health service, and university health partnerships ¡°risk fragmenting just when they are needed most¡±.?

Both the NHS and UK universities are facing mounting financial and structural challenges, creating a ¡°perfect storm where universities are less able to support an NHS under strain¡±,?according to the paper by King¡¯s Health Partners and the Policy Institute at King¡¯s College London.

While hospitals with high research activity report lower mortality rates and improved patient survival, research does not feature in the 2025-26 NHS operational planning guidance, which all NHS organisations must follow.?

The paper highlights the role that academic partnerships with the health service can play, including ¡°harnessing AI and unlocking data with the potential to transform health¡±.?

It adds that the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated the ¡°power¡± of partnerships, including through accelerated vaccine development.

The report goes on to say that university health partnerships can bring together ¡°world-leading expertise¡± to get the ¡°latest evidence into frontline care faster¡±.?

¡°Embedding research in the NHS is one of the most cost-effective interventions we can make to improve health outcomes everywhere,¡± it continues.?

The report recommends including research activity in the health services¡¯ performance assessment framework to make it measurable and accountable, as well as removing structural barriers between universities and NHS employers, including ¡°protecting pay, pensions and leave for staff engaged in research¡±.

It also calls on healthcare providers to expand research participation across health and care organisations, ¡°ensuring smaller institutions benefit from university health partnerships¡±.

¡°University health partnerships are not a luxury ¨C they are a necessity,¡± said Graham Lord, executive director of King¡¯s Health Partners and an author of the report.?

¡°As the government develops its 10 Year Health Plan, we need urgent action to align incentives and strengthen partnerships now, while we still can.?

¡°The evidence is overwhelming: research-active organisations deliver better patient outcomes and drive economic growth.

¡°We have the blueprint, the evidence and the policy window. What¡¯s needed is resolve. To secure a resilient, equitable, and innovation-led NHS, we must stop treating university health partnerships as important but a second-order priority, and start treating them as urgent and vital.¡±

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com