We work with organisations such as the Care Quality Commission, NHS England & NHS Improvement and the Health Research Authority to improve the environment for health and care research in England. We also work with other national partners to recognise efforts to make research a core activity in the NHS, public health and social care.
Health and care professionals undertake a range of roles in clinical research. Whether they're leading research in their field of interest, a co-applicant or principal investigator for studies, advising sponsors or sites about the shape and feasibility of their research or taking a leading and essential role in recruitment and delivery of studies - every role and every professional is important.
Health and care professionals have a pivotal role to play in promoting participation in clinical trials to patients and the public.
Encouraging a research-positive culture in health and care organisations is important to give patients wider access to clinical research and improve patient care and treatment options.
Evidence show clinically research active hospitals have better patient care outcomes.
NHS trusts in England are being asked to look more closely at research as a priority for improving patient care, as a result of new questions being included in the Care Quality Commission (CQC) well-led framework.
A partnership between the NIHR, the Health Research Authority and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, together with Research and Development Leaders in the NHS (known as UKRD) and patients, have collaborated with CQC on a project to incorporate research into their regulatory assessments of quality patient care.
In September 2018 the CQC signed off the integration of clinical research into its well-led framework for NHS trusts. This is the first time a major NHS regulator has formally recognised clinical research activity in the NHS as a key component of best patient care. They did this in recognition of the growing body of data which indicates that research-active hospitals have better patient outcomes.
Inclusion of these research questions in the well-led framework by the CQC, has been an important trigger in supporting other healthcare organisations achieve their goals towards promoting more research activity. One example of this, is The Royal College of Physicians, calling for every clinician working in the NHS to become research active. Read the Royal College of Physicians statement.
Additionally, for the first time, a question asking if research opportunities were offered to patients as part of their care has been included in the CQC Annual Survey of Inpatient Experience. This survey is sent to around 185,000 patients who have been cared for at approximately 148 NHS trusts in England. The results of this survey are expected to be announced in Summer 2019.
Watch this short video with patients involved in the project to hear what this work means to them.
The CQC well-led framework looks at leadership, governance, organisational vision and strategy, culture and levels of engagement in NHS trust organisations. Whilst the well-led framework is familiar to many in the NHS, the new research-related questions aim to determine how well an NHS trust integrates research into its corporate strategy, planning and how well research opportunities are offered to patients. In a nutshell, everyone thinking research as part of good quality patient care.
To help you with planning for your CQC inspection in relation to the research questions in section W8 of the well-led framework, view this presentation on well-led research trusts.
For more information on the work please contact Roger Steel, T: 0113 343 0441
In 2017, NHS England and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) published a joint statement committing to 12 actions to support and apply research in the NHS. Three of these actions relate to how the NIHR works with the NHS both simplifying research processes and research priorities.
We’ve been working with NHS England and NHS Improvement, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Health Research Authority and others to:
NHS England’s Research Needs Assessment 2018 summarises the information and areas for research identified by NHS England, to provide an early signal of potential research requirements across the wider clinical portfolio. We are now developing a number of funding calls to commission research in the areas identified by the needs assessment.
Another relates to setting out local NHS research and innovation priorities of Academic Health Science Networks and Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships.
The consultation we jointly commissioned with the NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE/I) and the Academic Health Science Network identified the need for innovation and research around:
The findings will be used to facilitate further discussions involving patients and the public and the research community to refine the priorities and better understand the local context and challenges.