§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has undertaken on electro-convulsive therapy in the last two years. [67636]
§ Mr. LammyThe main Government agency for medical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is funded via the Department of Trade and Industry. The MRC currently supports one research project on electro convulsive therapy (ECT) being undertaken by Dr. M. J. Koepp at the Institute of Neurology. The research started on 1 November 2001 and is expected to take three years.
The Department directly funds research into policy and the delivery of effective practice in health and social care, and provides National Health Service support funding for research commissioned by the research councils and charities in the NHS. The Department has directly funded research projects relevant to ECT as follows: 1284W
Role of ECT: Review of studies and information on service user experience;Systematic review effectiveness and adverse effects of ECT;The Clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy;Clinical Effectiveness and cost of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation versus ECT in severe depression: a multi-centre randomised controlled trial and economic analysis.In addition, the Department provides NHS support funding for research councils' and charities' research that is conducted in the NHS. Details of this research can be found on the National Research Register on www.doh.gov.uk/research/nrr.htm