ABSTRACT
All clinical and therapeutic practice in healthcare settings should be underpinned by research that is of a sufficient calibre to prove its efficacy. A drug company would not think of launching a drug into the healthcare world without subjecting it to thorough and rigorous research, often over many years. Pharmaceutical research is carried out to ensure that each new drug is safe to administer and beneficial in its effects, and in order to establish clear guidelines for the medical profession on how to administer the drug therapeutically, to whom and for what purpose. Practice that is not earthed in empirical research is at the mercy of good ideas and fashionable theories. There is of course nothing wrong with good ideas and plausible theory; they are the seeds of creativity and development – but they must be tested.
