1. Suratthani Rajabhat University, Thailand
Development of Clinical Academic Careers in the UK Health Professionals ( )
March 29th 2018
Suratthani Rajabhat University, Thailand
Dr Ros Kane, Reader in Healthcare, University of Lincoln, UK.
Dr Christine Jackson, Honorary Fellow, University of Lincoln, UK and Visiting Professor, University of Maribor, Slovenia. .

2. Aims
To provide a short history of the Clinical Academic career pathway for Nursing, Midwifery, Health Visiting and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) in the UK
To provide an illustration of a regional development in the UK
To provide the context and challenges for Clinical-Academic Careers in nursing/AHPs

3. Principles Research is core business of the NHS.
Research clinicians required in all professions.
Strategy delivery will require partnership between HEI and service.
The process will need to grow.
Clinical academics will need to be a feature of NHS workforce planning, nationally and locally.

4. The Strategic Learning and Research Human Resources Plan (StLaR) Project
Problems to address
Poor labour market intelligence
Capacity building the next generation(s) to
meet increased demand and succeed the present ‘ageing workforce’
Increase investments in research training and scholarly activity
Build clearly identified career pathways
Poor contractual arrangements
Develop support and mentorship
Develop inter-professional alliances
Work internationally/globally

5. What is a Clinical Academic?
A nurse, midwife or allied health professional who engages in both clinical practice and research, providing leadership in the pursuit of innovation, scholarship and provision of excellent evidence-based healthcare.
A central feature of their research is that it aims to inform and improve the
effectiveness, quality and safety of healthcare. They focus on building a research led care environment including the development of capacity and capability.
They challenge existing practice as well as working within, and contributing to, a research rich environment that leads the way towards achieving excellence in healthcare and health outcomes (DH 2012 page 3).
DH (2012) Developing the Role of the Clinical Academic Researcher in the Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions London Department of Health.

6. What is a clinical academic?
In the UK the following definition is generally agreed as –
‘Clinical Academics are clinically active health researchers. They work in health and social care as clinicians to improve, maintain or recover health while in parallel researching new ways of delivering better outcomes for the patients they treat and care for. Because they remain clinically active, their research is grounded in the day to day issues of their patients and the delivery of service. This dual role allows the clinical academic to combine their clinical and their research career rather than having to choose between the two’.
NIHR 2016

7. Organisational and personal benefits for clinical academic roles (AUKUH, 2016)

8. ‘Developing the best research professionals’
Qualified graduate nurses:
recommendations for preparing and supporting clinical academic nurses of the future
Report of the UKCRC Sub Committee
for Nurses in Clinical Research
2007
in collaboration with
Modernising Nursing Careers

9. Producing the ‘Finch Report’
Analysis of reports and policies, UK and international - on research capability and capacity (1)
20 key stakeholder interviews plus expert reference group discussions across the UK (2)
Data from (1) and field notes from (2) were analysed using NVivo software
Inductive and deductive analyses – propositional themes/recommendations generated for testing
Tested on a national focus group of stakeholders

10. Finch report recommendations (2007) The clinical academic training pathway10

11. National funding of the Finch Report recommendations
Each of the four UK countries funds their own programmes
For England this is through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
Funding allocation includes salary replacement costs, tuition fees and additional research costs

12. Our regional Clinical Academic Pathway
‘Platinum’
award ?
Gold award
Spend a bit of time on this slide talking through the specifics of each level

13. Successes

14. Doctoral Training Programmes
Point of discussion

15. Challenges (feedback from national awarding panels)
Professional clinical development
Personal development
Research design and methods
Institutional support for development and sustainability
Contribution to research capacity building in the NHS

16. Service challenges
Building a clinical academic career is an incremental and often challenging process. Common challenges include:
Finding sufficiently skilled clinicians to backfill posts
Developing the ability to ring fence time in parallel clinical and academic roles
Ensuring that the financial aspects of any award are managed well
Planning for the maintenance of a clinical academic position on conclusion of any external research funding
NIHR Trainees Coordinating Centre (2015) Building a research career: a guide for aspiring clinical academics. (excluding doctors and dentists) and their managers. NIHR. Leeds.

17. Collaboration
The issues of new ways of working and new roles (such as a clinical –academic) are not straightforward in terms of employment.
This is despite the fact that workforce planning and development for medical personnel appears to present few challenges!
Key features of challenges include:
Grading
Supervision
Time and
Focus of the role
In responding to these challenges it is essential that active partnership takes place between University and NHS providers.

18. Future: centralised applications
ICA HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Programme for non-medical healthcare professions
ICA HEE/NIRH programme

19. Key documents
Building a research career

20. Key documents
The Association of UK University Hospitals (AUKUH) guidance

21. Contextual Policy
Butterworth, A., Jackson, C.S., Orme, M., Hessey, E., Brown, E., Ferguson, J. (2005). Clinical academic careers for educators and researchers in nursing: Some challenges and solutions.  Journal of Research in Nursing (2005) Vol 10 (1) 85-97
Clinical Research Network (2012) Five year strategic plan for research delivery
London. NIHR.
Department of Health (2012) Developing the role of the clinical academic researcher in the nursing, midwifery and allied health professions. Department of Health. London.
Jackson, C and Butterworth, T (2007). Everyone’s business, no-one’s responsibility: reporting clinical academic research activity by nurses in the United Kingdom.  Journal of Research in Nursing, Vol.12, (3), pp
Medical Research Council (2015) A Cross-Funder Review of Early-Career Clinical Academics: Enablers and Barriers to Progression. A Review led by the Medical Research Council in collaboration with the Academy of Medical Sciences, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, National Institute for Health Research and Wellcome Trust.
UKCRC Subcommittee for Nurses in Clinical Research (Workforce) (2007) Developing the best research professionals qualified graduate nurses: recommendations for preparing and supporting clinical academic nurses of the future: The ‘Finch’ report. London: UKCRC.

22. Web links