§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the measures he has taken to prevent conflicts of interest in biomedical research addressed by the Government bodies funding such research. [29562]
§ Mr. MaloneThe Department is committed to maintaining high standards in the management of research commissioned by the Department through peer review and guidelines on good practice—the Department's code of practice for commissioning and managing research, introduced in 1992.
Guidelines on the protocols that govern the operations of the national health service research and development programme, including conflicts of interest, have been issued to all those working within the programme. Under the guidelines members and the chairperson of NHS research and development commissioning groups are reminded of the need for impartiality in the commissioning of research and advised that they must declare a conflict of interest when one occurs and withdraw from the discussion.
The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, for each of the last five years, the number of cases of research sponsored by Government agencies which have been shown to be fraudulent; and if he will list the estimated cost to public funds of that misconduct. [29564]
§ Mr. MaloneThis information is not available centrally.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many scientific research units in the United Kingdom supported by Government funds have held formal courses in the organisational ethics of scientific research in the past two years. [29559]
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§ Mr. MaloneThis information is not available centrally.
Training carried out by research units is a matter for directors of the individual research units concerned.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on liaison between his Department and private research charities about research fraud. [29565]
§ Mr. MaloneThe Department gives a high priority to collaborating with other research funders to increase understanding of matters of mutual concern and to promote co-operation.
We work closely with the Association of Medical Research Charities, which represents some 48 charities. The AMRC is also represented on the national forum which brings together a wide range of research funders and provides an important means of establishing closer links between research interests in the NHS and elsewhere.
Within this framework, the guidelines for good research practice to which different research sponsors adhere are discussed and kept under review.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the procedure his Department follows when a case of suspected misconduct in medical research is reported to it. [30005]
§ Mr. MaloneAny allegation of misconduct in medical research reported to the Department would, in the first instance, be referred to the host institution for investigation in line with the clearly agreed terms of the contract signed between the Department and the research organisation.
If necessary, following the outcome of the inquiry, the complaint would be referred to the relevant professional body for further investigation. The Department would ensure that it was fully informed of the result of these inquiries and would, if appropriate, terminate any contract in place at that time.