CRN North Thames funding model 2023/24

  • Published: 22 August 2022
  • Version: V1.0
  • 3 min read

Background

The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) is directly funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

CRN North Thames, which is part of the NIHR CRN, received £32.1 million in 2023/24 as part of this funding.

Previously CRN North Thames introduced a performance element to the funding allocation model for our Partner Organisations (POs). At the same time, the POs were given more autonomy to manage their resources and CRN funding.

Since March 2020, clinical services and research at POs have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has made standard performance metrics (weighted recruitment and cost per weighted recruit) difficult to measure relative performance across our POs and therefore difficult to apply.

In 2022/23, the DHSC provided £500,000 of one-off additional funding to alleviate cost pressures from the additional pay increase awarded to the NHS. CRN North Thames received additional funding of £900,000 in 2023/24.

2023/24 approach

DHSC has directed all Clinical Research Networks  to ring-fence a minimum of 2% of their budget for delivering initiatives to help increase access of research to the underserved communities in their local regions. The increase to pensions for NHS employees will be funded centrally by the government.

After cost pressures, CRN North Thames received the same funding as last year. Due to this and the unique situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the CRN North Thames Executive Group recognised that implementing a performance measure would be extremely difficult, even though this group recognises the importance of promoting and rewarding efficient use of public funds. The proposal for this year is to keep the PO allocations unchanged from 2022/23.

Cap and collar: These are in place to protect the amount of funding allocated to our POs by ensuring any change in year-on-year funding is limited. They will remain unchanged at +10% (cap/increase) and -20% (collar/decrease).

2023/24 Budget

This year's allocation for CRN North Thames of £32.1 million from the DHSC is £500,000 above last year. The increase is made up of £400,000 to support the increased pay award and £100,000 for Proton Beam Therapy support at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We are expecting the final pay increase will be higher than the £400,000 provided to support this and we will manage this when we know the actual risk.

How the Annual Financial Plan (AFP) is split

How the Annual Financial Plan (AFP) is split 23/24 allocation (£ million) 22/23 allocation (£ million)
Core 31 30.6
Top slice 0.2 0.1
Transforming research 0.8 0.8
Public Health prevention research 0.1 0.1
AFP total 32.1 31.6

Annual Financial Plan 2023/24

Annual Financial Plan 2022/23 allocations by NHS trust/site

NHS trust/site Allocation (£)
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 945,865
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust  239,206
Barts Health NHS Trust (Delivery)  6,176,482
Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust  610,811
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (North Thames)  521,425
East London NHS Foundation Trust  394,401
Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust  469,662
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust  1,683,839
Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust  70,472
Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust  615,459
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust 2,488,532
Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust  737,814
North East London NHS Foundation Trust  878,254
North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust  388,649
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust  458,770
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust  2,518,962
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 208,751 223,424
Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust 79,178
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5,711,466
West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust  511,567
Whittington Health NHS Trust  421,845
Trust Total  26,146,053

Primary Care allocations

How primary care funding is split, by region

Primary care location Allocation (£)
Primary Care - London 967,449
Primary Care - Luton, Essex and Hertfordshire 316,188
Primary Care Total 1,283,647

Other allocations

How funding is split across other areas not covered above

Other allocations Allocation (£)
Barts Health NHS Trust (Host) 3,137,216
Direct Delivery Workforce 833,3333
Local Specialty Leads 363,064
National Specialty Leads 20,234
National Contract Value Review 56,151
Proton Beam Therapy 125,320
Local Authority Support 87,510
Total 4,622,828

The total allocation across NHS trusts/sites, primary care and other services is £32,052,518. This is in line with the figure presented in our 'How our Annual Financial Plan (AFP) is split' table.