Thread by @charlot_summers

There is a crisis in clinical academia in the UK. We talk of the need to expand medical schools, embed research into the NHS to improve care, & the importance of a vibrant life sciences sector for the economy of the UK, & yet we seem unable to tackle the underlying issues 1/9

Research requires researchers, which come in many shapes and sizes. We have increased the number of NHS Consultants over time, but we have not increased the number of clinical academics in hospitals, & the situation in primary care is even worse. 2/9

📈the no. of researchers requires time, £££, training schemes that support people to develop the skills needed, & a system that aligns incentives with the outcome it claims to want (more research). Not everyone can/wants to be a researcher, but we need to value those who do. 3/9

The @LordsSTCom Inquiry into clinical academics in the NHS (to which I & many others gave evidence) made recommendations about multiple issues they identified as needing to be fixed. Info on the Inquiry can be found at 4/9 committees.parliament.uk/work/7064/clin…

I'm increasingly amazed & frustrated that we (because we are all partly responsible) are permitting a system that disincentivises clinical academic careers. 5/9

Med students & early career drs ('coz I'm staying in my lane & not telling others how to get their house in order) want to develop research careers, but we're making it so hard: devaluing their achievements, recruiting to training via algorithms, extending training, etc. 6/9

We need to value diverse medical careers - none of it is "nice to have". If we are serious about achieving the aims in my 1st tweet, we need clinicians, clinician-scientists, clinician-educators, clinician-managers, clinician-policy makers, etc. ALL of them are important. 7/9

I understand that not everyone wants to be a clinical academic, but the @gmcuk is clear that research is everyone's business, & is a core component of high-quality medical care, so if you don't want to/can't do research yourself, you still need to support others that can/do. 8/9

In summary, if we REALLY want more research in the NHS, we need to stop making clinical academic careers near-impossible & start making them fun, accessible to all those with the talent/wish to follow that path, valued, supportive of the training needed. 9/9.

P.S For those that want to read more about these issues:
The @acmedsci report about the NHS-academic interface:

The Medical Schools Council runs an annual survey about posts, so is a helpful source of facts and figures: acmedsci.ac.uk/policy/policy-…
acmedsci.ac.uk/policy/policy-…