Professor Bryan Hennessy:

One issue that is key to these discussions is the value of research in the healthcare system. It relates back to the idea of creating core infrastructure in the hospitals for cancer trials for clinical research. It is not a lack of value for research by medics, doctors or nurses. In the system, from the Department of Health down, there is no recognition that research should be integral. A hospital manager will have a ward that needs ten nurses. It is part of his or her job to get ten nurses for that ward. There is no recognition of cancer research in that way. There is no budget line item in hospital management or the Department of Health stating that the cancer trials unit in that hospital needs ten staff members to be hired. While the hospital management will staff the wards, they will not staff a cancer trials unit at the moment because such units are not recognised as an integral part of the system. We doctors and nurses in the research system have to staff our own cancer trials units with our own moneys from the Health Research Board, the Irish Cancer Society, Cancer Trials Ireland, charities, donations from patients and so on. When we talk about valuing research in the healthcare system, we need the Department of Health, the NCCP, the HSE and hospital management to recognise the cancer trials unit as an integral part of the hospital as much as any ward in that hospital and for such units to be staffed accordingly.