Share
Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Advisor for the Department of Health and Social Care, delivered CSaP’s 2025 Annual Cleevely Lecture. In her talk, Professor Chappell championed the UK research landscape and highlighted some of the existing challenges within the healthcare system. She outlined how these challenges could be met by further embedding research within the healthcare system.
Professor Chappell began her talk by outlining the UK science and research policy sphere.
The UK is recognised globally for life sciences research output and healthcare outcomes. However, while there are many assets to the healthcare system, there are also liabilities. Much more could be done to bridge academia, the clinical community, and the civil service to deliver a more equal healthcare system to further improve the health of the UK and promote economic growth.
You can watch the lecture recording here:
Foundations of UK Healthcare Research
Government investment in R&D compared with other OECD countries is somewhat average. Despite this, the UK does well in terms of the global research recognition it receives but more effective use of investment could maximise the impact of research on the healthcare system. Investing in R&D should be seen as a driver of economic growth – very topical given this is one of the current government’s key missions.
"The UK has an astonishing science base that we must not throw away."
One of the challenges that the UK healthcare system faces is the demand for service delivery and the pressure that this places on the workforce. Professor Chappell explained that the NHS is a single-payer system, which in theory has universal coverage. She acknowledged that systematic inequalities exist, exemplified by variations in healthy life expectancy by level of deprivation and by geography. It’s important to leverage the existing assets of the NHS and biomedical research sector to improve patient involvement in research and the use of health data. She also highlighted the importance of the roles of organisations such as the NIHR, the HRA and patient support charities to engage patients.
Notably, there has been a decline in clinical academic positions, particularly among nursing posts. Professor Chappell stressed the need for developing the next generation of clinical academics to implement her vision of transforming the healthcare system. Given the complexity of the UK healthcare and research systems, there needs to be a balanced approach, and more government investment in translational research could be key to where the UK can do better. She went on to discuss how the MHRA and HRA can allow new drugs and medical devices to access the licensing approval pathway more quickly, by better connecting these organisations to the research sector and healthcare system.
Case Studies
Professor Chappell subsequently demonstrated how, when done well, entwining research with the healthcare system can improve provision and delivery.
In one example, she discussed the importance of understanding the science behind paediatric cancer. Highlighting some of the challenges in this area, including the small patient population, she noted that there were fewer than 10 specifically designed paediatric cancer treatments currently available compared to around 300 cancer treatments. C-Further and Zero Childhood Cancer are two collaborative programmes that aim to improve outcomes for children and young people with cancer. Both organisations integrate research into the healthcare system to help parents of children with cancer access the latest treatments and clinical trials.
Sharing her own experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Chappell discussed how large-scale clinical trials accelerated the ability for healthcare workers to determine the best treatments for patients. The UK's ability to gain public support for research and recruit participants, and the role of the UK's four nation Health and Care Research Programmes helped to pivot the workforce towards research efforts. The PANORAMIC and VIVALDI studies in care homes were mentioned as examples of innovative recruitment models, which contributed to the UK’s rapid response.
Professor Chappell’s specialism is obstetrics, and she emphasised the gap in maternal health research compared to other fields such as cardiovascular health and neurodegenerative diseases. She regretted that during the pandemic, pregnant women were excluded from many trials and so were denied treatments, leading to unnecessary deaths. This highlighted the importance of fully-integrating research into the healthcare system so that no patient groups are left behind.
Policy Levers and System Change
Policy levers can help to deliver science to make an impact to the healthcare system. This includes addressing the challenge of making policy more accessible to the academic community and striking a balance between priority-driven and discovery research. Professor Chappell argued that investing fully in one but not the other can leave people behind; for instance, pain had no clinical trial submissions between February 2019 and October 2023, despite the unmet need and the high prevalence, particularly in older adults.
Professor Chappell is keen to see how the five ‘critical technologies’ announced in 2024 by Lord Vallance, will be incorporated into the healthcare system. How data is used from these emerging technologies to improve healthcare delivery is important, as well as having public trust to achieve this. She questioned whether the public is losing trust in science and instead suggested that science is losing influence. She highlighted the importance of clear and accessible science communications and understanding how misinformation could be tackled.
Joining up the Pipeline
In terms of implementing more research within the healthcare system, Professor Chappell proposed that Cambridge might be a good place to start. The aim would be to offer all patients the opportunity to take part in research or a clinical trial to improve healthcare provision, and to improve links between all stakeholders in the system. This would involve the workforce in both primary and secondary care, charities, researchers, regulatory bodies and government to deliver this. This will better align priorities of research with healthcare outcomes and by extension, promote economic growth.
Megan Buckley
Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge
Professor Lucy Chappell
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
-
24 April 2025, 5:30pm
How should science and research policy inform a future health and care system?
The 2025 Annual Cleevely Lecture will be delivered by Professor Lucy Chapell, Chief Scientific Adviser at Department of Health and Social Care.