In one of the most significant investments in primary care research infrastructure in recent memory, the National Institute for Health and Care Research has awarded £47.8 million in Capital Investment Funding — and general practice is the clear winner. Sixty percent of the funding, nearly £29 million, is going directly to primary care organisations across England.
This is not a small grant scheme. This is a structural investment in the equipment and facilities that GP practices, federations and PCNs need to compete for and deliver commercial clinical trials. And it signals, unambiguously, that the era of hospital-dominated research is over.
What the Funding Covers
The Capital Investment Fund, part of the government's Voluntary Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) Investment Programme — a public-private partnership between government and the pharmaceutical industry — covers equipment purchases and building refurbishments for research delivery. Funded items include diagnostic kits such as spirometers and ECG machines, fibroscanners and Accuvein scanners, ultrasound machines, and mobile research vans equipped for screening and diagnostics.
The inclusion of mobile research units is particularly significant. These vans can extend the reach of clinical trials into rural areas and underserved communities — exactly the populations that commercial sponsors are increasingly required to include in their trial designs.
Who Was Eligible
The funding was open to GP practices, GP federations, Primary Care Networks, Integrated Care Boards and Community Interest Companies providing NHS primary care services. This is notably broader than previous capital investment rounds, which were largely restricted to NHS trusts.
The eligibility expansion reflects a deliberate policy decision to build research infrastructure where patients actually are — in their communities, with their own GPs — rather than concentrating it in academic medical centres.
What This Signals to Sponsors
For pharmaceutical and medtech sponsors, this funding round is a clear market signal. The UK is investing heavily in making primary care a viable, well-equipped alternative to hospital trial sites. GP practices that have received capital investment funding will have the diagnostic infrastructure — ECG machines, spirometers, scanning equipment — that sponsors previously assumed only hospital sites could provide.
The investment also directly addresses one of the most common sponsor objections to primary care research: that GP practices lack the equipment to support complex protocol requirements. That objection is becoming harder to sustain.
What It Means If Your Practice Didn't Apply
If your practice wasn't part of this funding round, don't be discouraged. The NIHR has stated this is now in its third year as an annual competition, and eligibility has expanded each time. The key is to build your research track record now — delivering NIHR portfolio studies, achieving RCGP Research Ready® accreditation, and engaging with your Regional Research Delivery Network — so that you are positioned to apply when the next round opens.
Joining an established network like PCRA is one of the fastest ways to build that track record. Access to a portfolio of commercial and NIHR studies from day one means you can demonstrate delivery activity in the next application cycle rather than starting from scratch.
The Bigger Picture
Taken together — the £47.8m capital investment, the NIHR Wider Care Settings Funding, the 14 new Primary Care Commercial Research Delivery Centres, and the government's 10 Year Health Plan — there is a coherent and well-funded strategy to shift the centre of gravity of UK clinical research from hospitals to communities.
For GP practices with the foresight to engage now, the opportunity is significant. The infrastructure is being built. The funding is flowing. The sponsors are interested. What is needed is practices ready to deliver.
Ready to build your research capability?
PCRA supports GP practices in developing the infrastructure, track record and regulatory compliance needed to access NIHR funding and attract commercial sponsors. Talk to us about membership.
Contact PCRA →Dr Daphne Hazell is CEO of the Primary Care Research Alliance and holds an NIHR NCVR Champion role for the Kent, Surrey & Sussex region.