"Clinical research is not just for the large teaching hospitals - it is absolutely core business for all NHS Trusts. A recent MORI poll showed that seventy two per cent of people would want to be offered the chance to take part in a clinical trial if they had a health condition that was affecting their daily life. Data from the NIHR Clinical Research Network shows us that high quality research is happening, but we could be doing more. We need all Trusts to look at how they can increase the opportunities for patients to take part in research." (Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Health)
Both the NHS constitution and the NHS Operating Framework require the NHS to support research but in reality clinical research is only just beginning to figure outside of NHS teaching hospitals. It is not integral to health care planning and often occurs in 'pockets', depending largely on the enthusiasm of individual researchers. It is not usually reported at NHS Trust Board level and although sometimes alluded to in Annual Reports, there is no regular performance reporting.
The Clinical Research Network is leading the drive to make research performance more visible and transparent. These maps show different levels of Clinical Research Network-supported research being undertaken by different NHS Trusts nationally. You can view this information in a heat map style (below) or view an interactive NHS Trust research activity league table.
NHS Trusts are ranked in two ways:
By number of studies recruiting patients in 2010/11
Key:
• Red - 0 to 50 Studies
• Purple - 51 to 100 Studies
• Blue - 101 to 200 Studies
• Yellow - 201 to 250 studies
• Green - 251 to 350 Studies
By number of patients recruited in to research studies in 2010/11
Key:
• Yellow - 0 to 500 participants
• Blue - 501 to 1,000 participants
• Green - 1,001 to 5,000 participants
• Purple - 5,001 to 10,000 participants
• Red - Over 10,000 participants
Why not take a look and see how your Trust is performing?
Notes on the data
1. It's important to note that the league table relates to NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio data; a national database of research studies that are supported by the NIHR Clinical Research Network. The Portfolio does not cover all the research that takes place in England, only studies that meet specific eligibility criteria set by the Department of Health are included in the Portfolio. These are high quality, peer-reviewed studies that have been awarded funds as a result of open national competition, for research that is of clear value to the NHS and which takes account of NHS priorities.
2. Some of the Trusts showing little or zero research have a legitimate reason. These are primarily ambulance Trusts and community/social care Trusts:
• The majority of social / community Trusts are new organisations created as a result of Transforming Community Services, yet to become research active
• The portfolio of pre-hospital studies is very small, and so ambulance Trusts simply do not have appropriate studies to recruit to.
Content on this page was provided by NIHR CRN.
