The UK health research funding landscape has changed at an unprecedented rate over the past three months. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the largest public investor in research and innovation, is overhauling the way its four-yearly £38.6 billion budget is shared between its seven research councils. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has dramatically narrowed the scope of global health funding to "acute and chronic threats to global health security" after cutting its health program after six months. These changes cause institutional instability and waste time and public money invested in writing and assessing grant applications for schemes that have been unexpectedly terminated or suspended. UKRI should mitigate negative impacts by considering transparency and snap decision-making, lack of collaboration with researchers and universities and unintended consequences. Universities act as key actors in this process.