Budget boosts NHS research
Research in the NHS has been given a boost by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, in his budget statement delivered to the House of Commons on 17 March.
Mr Brown announced a 10-year framework for medical science. He said that,
modelled on the successful National Cancer Research Institute, the plan
would fund
specialist research institutes for other diseases. A new National Clinical
Research Network would bring private and public sectors and medical charities
together. By 2008 the combined budget for medical research and NHS research
and development would approach £1.2bn a year.
On general funding for the NHS, Mr Brown confirmed a previously announced
decision that the NHS would receive a 10 per cent cash rise — 7.2
per cent in real terms — each year to 2008. This would support
plans for greater flexibility, diversity and local accountability in
the NHS. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal