The third RAND analysis of influential biomedical and health research has confirmed the leading role played by researchers at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals on the global medical research stage.
The report shows that experts at the Trust produce more highly cited publications (HCPs) about respiratory and critical care medicine than any other NHS trust in England.
In cardiovascular medicine, the proportion of Trust research papers quoted in subsequent studies was joint highest, while research about allergy was third highest.
The report highlighted the Trust’s close partnership with Imperial College London, with the two organisations having the most co-authored HCPs compared with all other healthcare and academic partners in England.
The analysis was carried out by RAND Europe, a not-for-profit policy research organisation, and the Centre for Science and Technology Studies.
The study looked at the 95,928 papers, published by biomedical and health researchers in England between 2004 and 2013, which were among the top 20 per cent of HCPs worldwide. This included research from 127 NHS organisations, 94 higher educational establishments and 64 ‘other’ organisations.
It showed that Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust had a total of 939 HCPs.
The analysis was based on how many citations (or references) individual research publications received, taking into account publication date, research field and document type.
Professor John Pepper OBE, acting director of research at Royal Brompton & Harefield, said: “Research underpins a great deal of clinical work at the Trust, and one of our guiding organisational values reflects a commitment to finding and developing new treatments for heart and lung disease, both for today’s patients and for future generations. It is therefore very satisfying to see that the impact of our research has been recognised once again by the RAND analysis.
“Our two state-of-the-art biomedical research units (BRUs), operated jointly with Imperial College and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Trust, have been instrumental in supporting our research programmes. In the last financial year the BRUs have enabled our teams to recruit more than 3,000 patients into around 175 clinical studies.
“Our work would not have been possible without support from Imperial College and the NIHR, as well as many other academic institutions and industry sponsors with whom we have effective partnerships.
“We are committed to improving the lives of those living with heart and lung disease through our continued research programme.”