§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list(a) the research units within the NHS funded by her Department, (b) their principal publications in the last four years and (c) any plans for their reorganisation.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe Department currently supports 13 research units on rolling contracts. In addition, there are 15 research programmes on fixed-term contracts. None of these contracts is currently held with national health service authorities. The units and programmes are largely based in university departments.
Details of research contracts supported over the past four years are contained in the Department of Health "Handbook of Research and Development", an annual publication, which is available in the Library. A list of units' principal publications is not held centrally. The majority of research units on rolling contracts receive funds from a variety of sources, of which the Department is one.
In respect of plans for reorganisation, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Mr. Porter) on 2 December.