Shaping the future NHS with research
Shaping the future NHS with research
Michael Kasese joined our research team last year as a specialist research nurse to lead partnership projects between CPFT and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). In this blog, he explains why research is important to shape the future of health services and what support is on offer to researchers at CPFT.
Research is vital to provide the necessary evidence we need to shape health services and improve outcomes. Research helps to develop new models of care, redesign urgent and emergency pathways, strengthen primary care and transform mental health and cancer services. Around 25% of the world’s top 100 prescription medicines have been discovered and developed through research in the UK.
By fully integrating research into the NHS, health professionals can provide better quality care and improve use of limited resources. A lot of health research is carried out in the NHS, with recruitment and follow up appointments often taking place in clinical settings. 100% of acute and mental health NHS Trusts take part in research and an increasing number of research studies are being undertaken in community and primary care. During the pandemic, over 1 million people were recruited into COVID-19 studies across the UK. This led to a greater understanding of the disease and development of effective vaccines.
At CPFT, we run hundreds of studies to understand physical and mental health conditions better, trial potential new treatments and find effective routes to recovery for everyone. Every year, up to a thousand people take part in our research and we continue to build regional, national and international partnerships to bring more research to benefit our patients. We aim to offer research opportunities to all staff and service users in all areas.
As the clinical research link nurse between CPFT and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), I identify suitable research opportunities in ARU and then support them to be adopted to the research portfolio in our Trust with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). This increases access to NHS resources to support researchers to deliver and complete studies that can help to improve health and care services.
The research being carried out at CPFT must be of value to the NHS and both feasible and ethical to conduct with NHS services and patients. If your study is eligible for the NIHR portfolio we can assist you with local study set up at CPFT, considering arrangements to support research activities in partnership with other organisations.
Find more information on the CPFT Research website for researchers and health professionals to get studies started, including how to apply for your NHS research passport. The NIHR Research Design Service can also help you design the study and identify the most suitable funding source for a project.
CPFT’s Research and Development (R&D) office can help you at all stages of your research study. The team provide researchers with guidance and support to conduct ethical high-quality research in the Trust that protects the safety and wellbeing of participants and staff involved. Contact R&D@cpft.nhs.uk to discuss your research project or set up a study at CPFT. Academic and clinical leads in your service can also offer advice on the resources available to undertake research in the Trust.
The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) portfolio coordinates high quality research studies that are eligible for support from the NIHR CRN in England. If you have been awarded a research grant, your study could be considered eligible for this support and inclusion on the national portfolio. Research studies funded by the NIHR and partners are automatically eligible for portfolio adoption. Other studies would need to have a funding source from open competition.
If you have a study that meets the criteria for NIHR portfolio adoption or you would like to talk through the process, please email me at: Michael.kasese@cpft.nhs.uk.
Benefits of having your study portfolio adopted:
- Access to a local network of skilled research support staff including research nurses and other allied health professionals, who can help identify eligible patients who could participate, arrange recruitment and consent to take part in the study and monitor participants as they progress through the study.
- Support to ensure that your study can be successfully undertaken in the NHS with assistance from pharmacy, imaging and pathology services.
- Managing study performance by monitoring Key Performance Indicators such as time to target recruitment in studies.
- The NIHR Study Support Service helps researchers and the life sciences industry plan, set up and deliver high quality research to time and target in both the NHS and the wider health and social care environment, across England. This service is provided for all studies eligible for support on the NIHR CRN portfolio, across all locations, study types, study sizes, therapies and research areas. Whether your study is medical, diagnostic, pharmaceutical, biotech or is looking at healthy populations of people with social care needs, the support service can help.
Learn more about the benefits of portfolio adoption on the CPFT Research website.
Find out more about portfolio adoption on the NIHR website.
