Transcript Slide 1

NIHR Programme Grants for
Applied Research
- Full Application Stage Workshop
Trudi Simmons
Senior Manager, Finance and
Programmes, Department of Health
July 2011
Application Finances
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Programme planning
Attribution of costs
Eligible research costs
Things to look out for
Common mistakes
Key messages
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Research full application workshop
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Programme Planning
• Need to develop a robust programme plan detailing:
– What resources are required
– When resources are required
– Which resources need to be funded via any Programme Grant
award
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Classification of Costs
• Guidance on attribution of costs is set out in two documents:
– Attributing revenue costs of externally-funded noncommercial research in the NHS (ARCO)
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/Publications
PolicyAndGuidance/DH_4125280
– HSG(97)32: Responsibilities for meeting Patient Care Costs
associated with Research and Development in the NHS
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publications
andstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/Healthserviceguidelines/DH_4018353?Idc
Service=GET_FILE&dID=14533&Rendition=Web
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Classification of Costs
• Three types of NHS R&D cost:
– Research Costs. Usually by grant funders through the
award of a research grant
– NHS Support Costs (or Service Support). Met from the
R&D budget by the Health Departments of the United
Kingdom
– Treatment Costs. Met through the normal commissioning
process (very exceptionally DH may make a contribution)
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Research Costs
• Costs of the R&D itself that end when the research ends. They
relate to activities that are being undertaken to answer the research
question including:
– Data collection
– Analysis
– Other activities needed to answer the research question
– Can include pay and indirect costs of staff employed to carry out
the research
– Trial registration
– Dissemination
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NHS Support Costs
• Additional patient-care costs with the research, which would end
once the R&D study in question had stopped, even if the patient
care involved continued to be provided associated with the research.
Includes:
• Extra diagnostic tests
• Extra inpatient or outpatient activity
• Extra nursing care
• Obtaining informed consent from participants
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Treatment Costs
• Patient care costs which will continue if the patient care service
continues after the activity stops
• Covers all types of patient care
• Must assume that the intervention / service being tested will
continue after the end of the study even if there are no plans in
place for it to continue
• As a rule of thumb most interventions that are being tested or
compared as part of a study will be Treatment Costs even if they are
experimental, unlicensed for the condition, not NICE approved, or
there are no plans to continue with the intervention after the study
has ended because the PCTs/GP Commissioners won’t fund
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Further information
• Guidance on funding Excess Treatment Costs related to noncommercial research studies and applying for a subvention
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/doc
uments/digitalasset/dh_097627.pdf
• Seek clarification from NIHR CCF or Trudi Simmons
[email protected]
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Excess Treatment Costs
• Where treatment is experimental, or differs from normal,
standard treatment for that condition, the additional costs of the
treatment is an Excess Treatment Cost
• Part of the Treatment Costs
• Normal commissioning arrangements apply
• Subvention support available from DH only in
– Very exceptional cases
– Very high excess treatment costs
– Very few centres involved.
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Key items to note
• Applications that involved the NHS are usually expected to include
NHS costs (Treatment and Support costs).
• Programme Managers check for omission of these costs.
• Applicants must explain explicitly why there are no NHS costs or
why NHS costs have been omitted. The contracting process will be
delayed until a valid explanation is provided.
• DH will not agree funding for projects that do have accurate
research, Treatment and Support costs.
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Key items to note cont.
• A study undertaken outside the NHS (i.e. does not use NHS
patients, NHS staff, facilities or a NHS funded intervention) will be
unlikely to receive NHS Support from the NIHR Clinical Research
Networks even though the study may be eligible for inclusion on the
NIHR CRN Portfolio.
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Key items to note cont.
• Researchers are requested to notify NHS Trusts (via the Trust R&D
lead) about
– planned studies and their associated ETCs at the earliest
opportunity. If possible notify Trusts in advance of submitting the
full grant proposals.
– the grant funder’s funding decision as soon as this is known so that
the Trust can amend its financial plans accordingly.
– R&D leads contact details: http://www.rdforum.nhs.uk/044.asp
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Eligible Research Costs
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Salaries of research and research support staff
Consumables (e.g. sample tubes, study forms)
Statistical support
Travel and subsistence (e.g. to conferences or study sites)
Software licences
Minor equipment (<£5k per item)
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Things to Look Out For
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Cost at 2011/12 prices with no inflation uplift
No payment of FEC
Reasonable NHS overheads only: - must be fully justified
A maximum of £2m is available with an average annual cost of no
more than £400k
• Support and Treatment costs are not funded by the Grant
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Staff and equipment
• Staff salaries should be realistic based on the going market rates,
percentage of time they spend on the research programme and
programme duration.
• Avoid costing researcher as a consultant – If you do it should be
justified
• Avoid imbalance between scale of resource request vs. scale of
activity
• Ensure realistic time devoted by applicants.
• Justify admin support, e.g. charging a whole time secretary
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Common Mistakes
• Failure to adhere to funding limits (max £2m)
• Inappropriate inclusion of inflation uplift
• Inappropriate inclusion/exclusion of NHS Support Costs and
Treatment Costs
• Failure to budget adequately for key resources
– e.g. time of applicants, statistical support
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Common mistakes cont.
• Unrealistic indirect costs. This should be well justified in the
justification of costs section of the application
• Inappropriate inclusion of capital costs
• Failure to justify requested resources adequately
– e.g. use of research fellows rather than support staff,
consultants, inclusion of contingency budget etc.
• Failure to reach financial agreement with partners
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Key Messages
• Seek expert financial advice from your R&D Office/Finance
Department at an early stage
• Ensure costs are attributed correctly
• Justify resource requests carefully
– Don’t over- (or under-) estimate costs
• Don’t forget to submit signed Declarations & Signatures form
• Note Programme Grant agreement on NIHR CCF website
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Key messages cont.
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Consider subcontracting arrangements
Consider how to access support or treatment costs
Consider capacity issues
Our expectation is that grants will generally start within six months of
confirmation of award
• Read and follow the Application Guidance!
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