Funding

***Please note that as of 15/04/13 there are no calls open for Research and Capability Funding (RCF) from West Anglia CLRN. The CLRN Executive will consider all RCF applications that were received prior to this date.***

AcoRD supersedes ACRO

From 1 October 2012 new guidelines for attributing the costs of health & social care Research & Development (AcoRD) became effective, superseding earlier guidance contained in Attributing Revenue Costs of non-commercial research in the NHS (ARCO).

AcoRD establishes a mechanism for the Department of Health to meet some of the costs of charity-funded research in the NHS, for charities that are members of the Association of Medical Research Charities.

AcoRD must be used to attribute the costs of research taking place in the NHS where the outline or full grant funding application is submitted to funders from 1 October 2012. The AcoRD guidance should not be applied retrospectively to studies contracted prior to 1 October 2013 where the full application for funding was submitted before 1 October 2012.

What this means for you:

• If you submitted your grant to funders before 1 October 2012 continue to use the existing NHS Infrastructure Support Application Form B below.
• If you have submitted your grant to funders after 1 October 2012 please use the NHS Infrastructure Support Application Form A below, which reflects the AcoRD guidance.
• For more guidance on AcoRD visit the Department of Health website.
• Guidance on ARCO is also available from the Department of Health website

NON-COMMERCIAL: If you submitted your grant to funders before 1 October 2012 please continue to use our NHS Infrastructure Support Application Form B. For grants submitted to funders after 1 October 2012 please use Support Application Form A.

This must be filled in and sent electronically to the email address provided. We must also receive a printed, signed copy of your application. Please note we cannot process your application unless we have (1) received it electronically in the first instance, with all supporting documentation and (2) received a printed, signed copy in the post.

• Forms and supporting documents are to be emailed to: clrnapplications@addenbrookes.nhs.uk
• Your application will be acknowledged and logged with a unique WACLRN reference to track its progress
• There are now separate forms for non-commercial and commercial studies.

IMPORTANT:

Please use the non-commercial form A or B to request support costs, as defined in the AcoRD (form A) or ARCO (form B) guidance.

For commercial studies (industry-funded and industry-sponsored), you can only apply for research nurse team support, and this MUST be discussed and agreed with the Senior Research Nurse Manager and Industry Manager, ideally when you are approached about the study during the feasibility stage.

Your R&D department will also need to be informed to ensure the necessary contractual arrangements are in place.

We encourage you to contact us with any queries you may have while completing the form to make the review process as straightforward as possible.

Support Application Forms:

NHS Support Application Form - Commercial
NHS Infrastructure Support Application Form A - Non-Commercial (this reflects AcoRD guidance)
NHS Infrastructure Support Application Form B - Non-Commercial (this reflects older ARCO guidance)
Guidance for all applicants: please read before you complete your form
Process flowchart for non-commercial support applications: A simple guide for researchers outlining what happens to their application once it is received by West Anglia CLRN.

ARCO (Attributing Revenue Costs of externally-funded non-commercial research in the NHS) guidelines

This document aims to clarify the distinction between research costs, NHS support costs and treatment costs in relation to activity specified in the research application/protocol; and to help attribution between the NHS and the external funder of: (1) patient-related activity; (2) clinical staffing; and (3) placebos and medicines.

You can download the ARCO guidelines from the Department of Health website.