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<p>The COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 led the National Health Service to suspend
many routine clinical services and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
to prepare to support the Government’s research response. Subsequently, decisions
were taken by research sponsors, funders, investigators and study sites to pause some
non-COVID-19 research, and by the NIHR Clinical Research Network to pause set up of
new sites or studies, other than for nationally prioritised COVID-19 studies. This
led to a rapid and significant reduction in clinical research activity.</p><p>The
NIHR published a Restart Framework in May 2020 and has established groups to oversee
and coordinate the restart of non-COVID-19 research. Restart of non-COVID-19 trials
of life-preserving or life-extending treatments that are not otherwise available to
patients remain a priority.</p><p>We have no evidence to date that studies underway
prior to the pandemic, including those paused or stopped, have been impacted by reductions
in funding. We are working with partners to assess the potential impact on funding
available for future studies.</p>
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