Contracting for National Institute for Health and Care Research grants

Our Clinical Effectiveness & Research Team supports Chief Investigators with National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) grant applications in terms of finances, intellectual property and logistical aspects of the research.

We ensure there are contracts in place to cover all the legal and organisational level considerations. We put a real emphasis on the contract being bespoke to enable the Chief Investigator to work in the way they want to and realise the goals of the research.

We manage the contracts between all collaborating organisations to the research, organising the finances and supporting the annual and final reports to the NIHR. We also have a role in facilitating the appropriate use of any findings.

We host many large NIHR grants with a substantial combined value. We are an experienced contract host, and well-schooled in the six steps:

• Supporting researchers with NIHR grant applications;
• Signing and holding the contract for the research with the funder (The Department of Health and Social Care);
• Setting up and signing subcontracts (collaboration agreement) with the organisations doing the research – this could be the Universities or other NHS or voluntary bodies;
• Reporting on expenditure to the funder;
  Ensuring all legal and financial responsibilities are handled effectively;
• Ensuring that intellectual property arrangements are set up effectively.

Contracting for NIHR grants: a two-stage process

The first stage is the Main Agreement, which is a contract between us and the Department of Health and Social Care. This passes all of the finances, legal responsibilities and accountability for the project from the Department of Health and Social Care over to us. The Department of Health and Social Care use standard contracts containing fairly strict terms which are included to safeguard the spending of public money.

Stage two is a more collaborative process. For example, we have a joint member of staff who works for both Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB and the University of Bristol, who will work with the Chief Investigator to create a “collaboration agreement”.

This agreement fulfils all organisational and legal boxes, but also ensures that the Chief Investigator can run the project in the way they wish to. This agreement shares the responsibilities passed to us with all the other collaborating organisations involved in delivering the research project.

This collaboration agreement is then negotiated and agreed by all the organisations working on the research, so that we all work to the one contract.

Contact us

If you have any questions or would like support please contact our Clinical Effectiveness & Research Team.

Tel: 0117 900 2268
Email: bnssg.research@nhs.net