Funding for health research can improve patient treatment as well as boosting the economy, says the head of the Health Research Board. Dick Ahlstrom reports
Dr Ruth Barrington is happy to see a somewhat crowded field for Irish research funding organisations. Not long ago, the Health Research Board (HRB), of which she is chief executive, was one of the very few.
"We are pleased with the new situation and very happy to co-operate closely with agencies that are funding research," she says. The two or three funders of a decade ago have been joined by others and budgets have been greatly increased.
The board's own budgets have also done comparatively well over the past few years. It emerged successfully from last November's Estimates, with a 14 per cent budget increase for 2003 and spending power of €22.5 million. There has been a steady climb from €9.8 million in 2000 to €14.9 million in 2001 and €19.7 million in 2002.
At least 80 per cent of this goes directly into medically-oriented research activities. "It funds hundreds of research projects and fellows funded to do research relevant to human health and the better organisation of our public health services," Dr Barrington explains.
"Under the present Minister, there has been a recognition of the importance of health research and linking it to improved quality in the health services. There is also a recognition of the contribution that health research can make to improvements in medicine and economic development.
"Until very recently, the climate for doing research was not very attractive," she says. "Research was something people had to shove in on top of their clinical or academic responsibilities."
This was a perverse situation, given that research usually leads to improvements in human health. "Every new effective therapy for patients has grown out of research conducted in some part of the world. Some of it is Irish and increased funding allows an even greater contribution from Irish researchers," says Dr Barrington.
The fresh money coming in via the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) run by the Higher Education Authority, through Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology, is helping to grow research activity generally, she believes. The HRB has also played its part.
"Some top class medical researchers have come back from abroad and others have decided to stay here to do their research."
About half of the €600 million PRTLI budget for research up to 2006 under the National Development Plan has gone into biomedical research, she says. "We would argue that the reason biomedical research did so well in the PRTLI is because there has been a dedicated stream of research funding over the years through the Health Research Board."
The funding can bring about real changes in the quality of health care. "It operates not only in the universities but also in the hospitals and the health system. It allows researchers to work directly with patients to improve treatments. It is a marvellous combination of real problems and real people linking with an academic research environment."
However, she believes there is plenty of room for improvement. "One of the problems is we don't have medical consultants who are mainly involved in research." The HRB is at "an advanced stage of discussions" with SFI for a joint initiative to fund medical consultants doing intensive research.
Dr Barrington would also argue that health funding should have been part of the last National Development Plan (NDP) negotiations and must be part of the next, after 2006. "We would be urging the Department of Health and Children to accept that research is part of the next NDP. The goal should be that all research aimed at social and economic development in the country should be included in the NDP."
She also has concerns about commitments made by the Government under its "Making Knowledge Work for Health" initiative, meant "to build a strong research culture in the health system itself". Key promises include: the appointment of a director of research within the Department of Health and Children; the creation of a health research forum to set agendas; and helping senior staff to develop a "culture of research". Dr Barrington fears that "changes to be made to the health system, initiatives which are fundamental to building a quality health system would be lost sight of."