“Worrying trends” in the clinical academic workforce continue
The clinical academic workforce is a good example of where UK medical science is “under strain,” according to a snapshot assessment from the Academy of Medical Sciences. The academy’s chief executive, Rosalind Campion, has warned that
“the doctors and researchers who bridge NHS patient care and university research are ageing and shrinking, even as we need them most.”
Drawing on data analysis from the Medical Schools Council, the academy’s report notes that the proportion of consultants who hold clinical academic posts has fallen to 3.2 per cent, a notable drop from 4.7 per cent in 2009.
The pipeline of younger staff is presented as a cause for concern as well, with only around 30 per cent of university-employed clinical academic doctors in UK medical schools aged 45 or below. This compares to around 35 per cent a decade ago, and almost 45 per cent back in 2005.
The academy is intending to publish its assessment of the state of UK medical science annually, which it says will create a “consistent way to track progress over time and identify areas where further action is needed.”
While the Office for Life Sciences’ recent competitiveness indicators show that the UK places sixth in a ranking of international comparators for expenditure on R&D performed by the private non-profit sector, it also reveals that UK government institutions invest much less as a percentage of GDP compared to other countries with data available, ranking 26th internationally.
The Academy of Medical Sciences argues that further investment in these areas is needed for the continued undertaking of world-class research. It also expresses concerns about UK universities’ low cost recovery on research activities, leading to a need for cross-subsidy from elsewhere.
Elsewhere a section of the report on public trust in and engagement with medical science warns of popular mistrust towards both the use of AI and the perceived profit motive in business R&D. Drawing on research from the Campaign for Science and Engineering, the academy stresses that overall the public still values science and scientists, even if trust appears to have eroded since the pandemic.
Part of the intention behind the report is to identify the data sources which can allow for close tracking of the health of UK medical science – and thus enable a “clearer story about capability, impact and opportunity” to be told.