In this issue
News from around the Network
- Programme Manager’s Update
- International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference 2024
- November 2024 Directors’ Meeting
- NEW Guidance and Information for CTUs
- Guidance for undertaking greener monitoring
- Monitoring triggers & metrics tool
- Training for Chief Investigators
- Operations and T&F Group Updates
- PeRSEVERE Project Update
- Get involved
- Training & Development Opportunities
- Job Opportunities
Updates from collaborators & stakeholders
- UK Trial Managers’ Network Update
- NHS DigiTrials Update
- NIHR Research Delivery Network
- NIHR Academy Update
Programme Manager’s Update
Welcome to the Network’s Winter 2024/25 newsletter. In it you will find a wealth of information on our numerous activities since the last newsletter including the Directors’ Meeting in November 2024 where we heard from Dr Alex Churchill (Deputy Director at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Head of Clinical Trials) about their plans and some exciting work from our groups, including new guidance published by the Monitoring Group. The Network’s Policy Group also continues to interact at a national level for CTUs responding to consultations and interacting with DHSC, MHRA, HRA and others.
There’s opportunities for colleagues coming up, as some of our groups are refreshing their membership and we will be in touch to open nominations soon, so keep an eye out soon. You can find out more about all our groups below.
Network members played a big part in the International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference (ICTMC) in Edinburgh in the autumn of 2024. Almost every session had contributions from at least one CTU and many had more than one. We lost count at 70 presentations! You can read more below about the great work and who won the CTU Directors Prize this time.
2024 saw the roll out of our ‘How to be a Good CI for Clinical Trials’ sessions. We are building on the success of this pilot in 2025 and 2026 under an updated name ‘How to be a Great Chief Investigator for Clinical Trials’ (why be good when you can be great!). Keep an eye out for the new dates later in the year to help support Chief Investigators.
Our Chief Investigator Network Group met to prioritise their work and decide the shape and scope of their first focus, and is now making good progress bringing together their diverse collective expertise and hope to have their first output available shortly! You can find out more about the group and its members here.
We also now host training and development opportunities and CTU-based job vacancies on our website. This has been a great success, and we encourage you to keep sending us details of events and vacancies, so we can help promote them.
As ever we continue to support the activities of researchers across the Network, and it’s been an active time for those recently. Supporting each other’s activities really improves the how trials are carried out, and helps drive excellence through collaboration, so a really sincere thank you to everyone who responds to surveys and consultations.
I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break and has recharged for a happy and healthy 2025!
Helen Evans
UKCRC Registered CTU Network Programme Manager
International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference (ICTMC) 2024
We had a wonderful time at the ICTMC in Edinburgh in 2024. It could have lasted two weeks, and we still wouldn’t have had time to attend all the sessions we wanted to. It’s wonderful to see how much methodology work is going on in CTUs.
We were very pleased to see that there was an exceptionally strong Network presence, with member CTUs involved in 10 pre- or post-conference workshops, 70 presentations, 2 symposia, and 2 spotlight sessions – not to mention countless posters!
On the first day of the main conference, the Network held a showcase session introduced by Kerry Hood around ‘Putting innovative trial designs into practice’. Many thanks to Sharon Love (MRC CTU at UCL), Carrol Gamble (Liverpool Clinical Trials Centre), Faye Wolstenhulme (Newcastle CTU), Sarah Dunn (Newcastle CTU), and Andrew Farmer (HTA) for their contributions to such a fascinating and well attended session.
Later that day, we hosted an informal networking event for CTU Directors, Group Chairs, and other colleagues.
The Network had a dedicated stand in the exhibition hall which proved to be a popular meeting point for CTU delegates during the 4-day meeting – as well as a place to cast votes and contribute to the ongoing development of the Network’s strategy for 2025-2030. We also fielded a lot of questions from overseas delegates who were interested in the work of the Network and understanding how the model could be replicated in their own countries.
Once again, we asked Directors to identify the session that they felt was likely to have the biggest future impact. There was stiff competition, but ultimately the award was won by the FACTS (Flourishing As Clinical Trial Staff) study. The FACTS study team are working with clinical trial staff and other academics to develop guidance for CTUs in order to help them improve employee workplace wellbeing (flourishing). Congratulations to Sophie Hall & Evgenia Riga (Nottingham CTU). You can read more about this important study here.
As part of our ongoing support for the conference, and in recognition of the critical role that public contributors play in delivering successful trials, we contributed to the Patient Research Partners Bursary Scheme. This provided the four successful applicants with funding of up to £1,000 to cover travel, accommodation, meals, and conference registration.
It’s great to see this conference going from strength to strength and we look forward to seeing you in Birmingham in 2026!
Directors’ Meeting – November 2024
The November meeting saw Directors from across the Network come together to discuss some of the most important issues currently facing CTUs such as workforce development and funding. There were also sessions on the Network’s activity over the last 6 months, including the establishment of a new Chief Investigator Network Group (CING), and an opportunity to work on the Network’s strategy for 2025-2030.
We were also very pleased to welcome Alexander Churchill to the meeting for the first time. Dr Churchill is a Deputy Director at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Head of Clinical Trials. His session on the DHSCs plans for the next ten years, including the implementation of the recommendations arising from the O’Shaughnessy review, and the discussion session that followed, enabled a great deal of useful information to be shared and reinforced the positive relationship between the DHSC and the Network.
New Guidance for CTUs
We are exceptionally pleased to announce the release of a number of new and updated resources for CTUs. All items are available via the links below.
We are very grateful to everyone involved in the production of the pieces.
Guidance for undertaking greener monitoring
Travel for on-site monitoring is a major contributor to the carbon footprint of a clinical trial, thought to account for an estimated 10-15% of the total environmental impact. This guidance, developed by the Network’s Monitoring Operations Group, offers a balanced approach to reducing carbon emissions whilst ensuring adherence to trial protocols, Good Clinical Practice, and regulatory requirements, alongside a risk-based approach to clinical trial monitoring.
Monitoring triggers and metrics tool
The Monitoring Group has published an Excel-based tool to help trial teams design trial specific monitoring metrics, triggers and associated actions, to be included in a trial monitoring plan.
The tool includes a number of worked examples to provide additional context.
All metrics listed in the tool are generic prompts, which are routinely used by many Clinical Trials Units (CTUs). However, it is expected that these are selected and tailored to the individual trial and inline with CTU processes.
Download your copy of the guidance here.
Training for Chief Investigators
The Network ran three How to be a Good CI workshops during 2024 in association with Leeds CTRU, Nottingham CTU, and the Centre for Trials Research in Cardiff. Over 100 delegates took part across the three sessions.
The response was overwhelmingly positive and we are pleased to say that more sessions are being planned for 2025 and 2026, under the name How to be a GREAT CI for clinical trials.
Thank you to all the units who will be taking part in the programme over the next few years. We look forward to working with you to build increased resilience and capacity in the Chief Investigator community.
Operations and T&F Group Updates
QA Group Update
National meeting and other engagement activities
We held our usual national meeting in Birmingham on 7th November. The agenda included an update from MHRA about the forthcoming changes in UK clinical trials legislation and on common inspection findings in platform trials. Alison Knight from HRA talked through plans for improving information governance assessments during site setup [ https://www.hra.nhs.uk/about-us/news-updates/blog-seven-proposals-improving-information-governance-assurancess/ ] as well as some general updates on ongoing HRA projects. In the morning there was a breakout session and presentation from members of the Monitoring Group on handling protocol deviations, and short talks from the Diabetes Trials Unit and Cardiff Centre for Trials Research on, respectively, electronic Trial Master Files and managing consent in the context of the Human Tissue Act.
Alongside our annual meeting, we are planning to start arranging online sessions during 2025 on topics that are important to Network CTUs. We hope these will provide another opportunity for learning and sharing experiences.
CTIMPs out of secondary care
The project to develop guidance for running CTIMPs out of secondary care is progressing well. We have convened a group of QA representatives with experience of running relevant trials, including in primary care, dentistry and prisons, amongst other settings. The group is using case studies and existing regulatory guidance to develop a new resource to guide CTUs running trials in non-secondary care settings, particularly those doing this for the first time.
Audits
We are looking to develop some additional audit-related resources to go with the existing prioritisation tool [ https://ukcrc-ctu.org.uk/guidance-for-ctus/ ]. These resources would help share best practice across the Network (where we know that different CTUs have different amounts of resource available for auditing) and would help support CTU staff to conduct different sorts of audit.
Planning for new clinical trials legislation
In our roles as CTU QA staff, we will be taking time in 2025 to understand the new clinical trials legislation and what they will mean for our CTUs. The mailing list and our online and in-person meetings in 2025 will continue to be a route for us to work through the changes together.
Membership
At the end of 2024 the QA Operations Group is losing the input of Gail Holland (Swansea CTU) who is retiring. We thank Gail for all her contributions to the QA Group over the years.
– Will Cragg (Leeds Clinical Trials Research Unit)
Data & IS Group (DISOG) Update
Data & IS National Meeting 2024
The national meeting took place in November and we were really happy with the turnout with 60 data and IS representatives from 36 UKCRC-registered CTUs, and a lunchtime poster session with 14 posters showcasing data management and IS-focused work from these CTUs. Attendees rated the whole event excellent (88% of respondents) or good.
The day included a session on considerations when developing an eTMF system, with useful insights from three different trials units; the presentation of a novel and successful approach to communicating eDC system functionality to trial teams; an interesting and insightful presentation on the data management and IS challenges of setting up a study in Nepal and a feedback gathering session on best practice guidance regarding the trial database lifecycle.
We also invited four vendors for relevant software solutions (such as eDC and TMF systems) to the national meeting so they could better understand the academic space and the challenges we face, introduce themselves and their software solutions on the main agenda, and host a stand in order to interact with the Data & IS representatives during breaks. This was a new concept for the national meetings and the feedback from attendees for this was positive, with 53% of respondents rating the vendor session excellent and the remainder good. We wanted to ensure it did not change the character of the meeting and took time to engage with the vendors prior to the meeting to ensure the right balance was met. We would definitely consider doing this again. Please let us know if you would like us to approach any vendors in particular.
Data Management Guidance
The work on the academic CTU-specific data management guidance has continued in the latter half of 2024, with the group presenting a poster relating to this work at the International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference (ICTMC) in Edinburgh in October.
We have several subject-specific working groups running concurrently to develop this guidance, with the current groups including ‘CRF/eCRF development’, ‘study database lifecycle’, ‘data cleaning & querying’, and ‘data reporting’, and planned groups including ‘working with external/third-party data’. These groups comprise data management staff of all levels from across CTUs who are coming together to pool their knowledge and best practice examples, and the planned outputs will hopefully support CTU DM staff to promote data management best practice within the academic environment.
The guidance outputs are almost finalised for the current groups. However, if you’d like to join ‘working with external/third-party data’ or future working groups, or would like us to include any particular themes, please contact the Secretariat on regctus@leeds.ac.uk.
Upcoming work
In 2025 we are planning more webinars, which we hope will include risk-based CSV, long-term data storage and audit trail review. We are also considering putting together new working groups with potential topics including CDISC, REDCap validation and use of AI in CTUs. Based on the feedback from a recent survey, we are investigating ways to communicate more effectively with all staff working in data management and information systems in CTUs. Finally, look out for surveys aimed at informing future work around MedDRA coding and general requests for information on current CTU activity regarding specific topics which will be sent to the mailing list.
DISOG Membership update
We are seeking two new members to join our Data & IS Operations Group (DISOG) to replace departing members. Further information will be sent by email to CTU directors and IS/data management representatives.
– Amanda Loban (Sheffield Clinical Trails Research Unit), John Turgoose (Hull Health Trials Unit), & Lindsey Masters (MRC CTU at UCL)
Trial Management Group Update
Over the past few months, the Trial Management ops group have been hard at work reviewing and refreshing our deliverables with our new members. Our focus will be to explore providing line management support to Trial Managers by sharing knowledge and best practice through mentoring and buddying.
Other new deliverables will include the potential development of a repository of useful documents such as PIS examples, drafting guidance to assist with justification of staff posts/roles in grant applications, and a project to provide estimated study timelines.
In addition, we continue to work on our previous deliverables including undertaking public funded research in private hospitals and following up on our efficiencies survey.
Following on from the membership changes within the group, we are very pleased to announce that Claire Cantley of CaCTUS has accepted the role of deputy chair. We will also be seeking additional members to join the group early in 2025. Information will be circulated by the Secretariat in due course.
As we look towards the future, we are also beginning to consider our national meeting for 2025. Please stay tuned for more information and thank you to those who have contributed to these valuable initiatives to date.
– Jaclyn Bailey (Warwick CTU)
Statistics Group Update
New Membership
In December 2024, we sadly had to say goodbye to Louise Stanton (Southampton CTU) and Graeme MacLennan (CHaRT) who stepped down after reaching the end of their second terms on the group. In June 2025, we will also be losing our excellent Chair and Deputy Chair, Catherine Hewitt (York Trials Unit) and Natalie Rowland (Birmingham CTU) for the same reason. We are pleased to announce that Jo Haviland (Pragmatic CTU) and Stephen Bremner (BSCTU) will be taking over Chair responsibilities for the group from June 2025. In addition, new members have been appointed following a very popular nominations exercise. They will be joining the group in two stages over the next 6 months.
- Justin Fenty (York CTU)
- Piers Gaunt (CRUK CTU)
- Catriona Keerie (Edinburgh CTU)
- Elaine Nicholls (Keele CTU)
- Rachel Phillips (Imperial CTU)
PSI Careers Event
The November 2024 PSI Careers Event in London attracted over 100 undergraduate and postgraduate students studying maths and statistics-related degrees across the UK. Many students have little to no awareness of CTUs, so this event provides a valuable platform to share the rewarding careers available in non-commercial research settings.
We are very grateful to Jo Haviland (Pragmatic CTU), Angus Jennings (MRC CTU at UCL), and Matthew Tyler (ICR-CTSU) for agreeing to share their insights on behalf of the Network. A particular thank you to Angus, who not only took part in the discussion panel alongside colleagues from industry, but also stepped in at short notice to give the ‘New Starter’ presentation!
To help support CTUs in undertaking outreach at the local level, we have developed some new stats-focused materials. These resources (available here) are perfect for sharing in university workshops, career fairs, and other settings.
Thank you to everyone who took part in developing these resources – particularly those who shared their stories. If you would like to add yours too, contact the Secretariat on regctus@leeds.ac.uk.
Webinar Series
In December 2024, we hosted a webinar on Involving trialists in evidence synthesis, presented by Jayne Tierney (MRC CTU at UCL). It was a well-attended session with some great follow up questions. Many thanks to Jayne and to anyone who participated. A recording of the presentation is available. Please contact the Secretariat for details.
We are in the process of preparing a second webinar on issues around anonymisation of data. More information on this will be circulated shortly.
National Meeting
The national meeting will take place in Oxford in June 2025. Please keep an eye out for a Save the Date email over the next couple of months.
– Catherine Hewitt (York Trials Unit)
Policy Group Update
The Policy Group continues to work with key national stakeholders such as the DHSC, MHRA, HRA and UKRI MRC Regulatory Support Centre. In early 2024, Saeeda Bashir, the former Network programme manager, became Head of Clinical Trials Policy & Programmes at the DHSC and we have been able to meet with her regularly to share thoughts on ongoing policy initiatives.
The new Clinical Trials legislation was laid in UK Parliament on 12 December 2024. Once made into law, the new legislation will come into force following a 12-month implementation period to ensure readiness. The Network has been invited to feed into the development of the supporting guidance and will be providing initial comments on the first draft in January 2025. Our initial reading suggests that there are some positive changes, though the legislation may not fully address the need for a more efficient, streamlined and adaptable regulatory framework for clinical trials. Drawing on our collective experience and helping to craft appropriate guidance will therefore be crucial and the Policy Group will be working with colleagues across the Network to help promote the need for a risk proportionate approach.
We also continue to respond to consultations on behalf of the Network and have recently provided feedback to the HRA on the draft inclusion and diversity guidance they are producing in association with the MHRA. The aim of the guidance is to help increase the diversity of people taking part in clinical trials and clinical investigations. You can find out more about the guidance and the pilot phase planned for early 2025 here.
– Claire Snowdon (ICR-CTSU)
Monitoring Group Update
Monitoring Clinics
In our July monitoring clinic, we discussed the carbon footprint with respect to monitoring. Some very useful information was shared about hospital sites that allowed controlled virtual or remote access to relevant patient records. This included
- University College Hospitals London allow virtual access with EpicCare. You need to sign a contract – for example to say you will be in a room on your own. You get a list of patients and get read only access to them.
- Royal Marsden allow remote access.
- Addenbrookes allows local access if you have EpicCare training which takes 3 hours – keep audit trail afterwards. Only allow timed access. Do not allow virtual.
- Kings, St Thomas should all be in position to set up a monitor.
- Soon all sites in Northern Ireland will have EpicCare and therefore should be able to do remote access.
In our October monitoring clinic, we discussed monitoring sample collections. The next monitoring clinic will be at 2pm on 30 January 2025. Ask your CTU monitoring lead for the TEAMS link if you would like to join in the conversation. Please email s.love@ucl.ac.uk if you would like a particular subject to be covered in future clinics.
National Meeting
We ran a successful hybrid annual meeting in June 2024 with 24 people attending face-to-face and up to a further 61 online. The triggers and metrics worksheet designed to give examples of metrics that could be used in central monitoring was launched and will be online shortly. Our greener monitoring guidance was launched and can be found at https://ukcrc-ctu.org.uk/guidance-for-ctus/ . Our projects on the link between risk and central monitoring metrics and non-compliance were discussed. Breakouts on greener monitoring and tips for monitoring completed the morning. We dedicated the afternoon to eConsent in practice, finding out how four CTU carry this out and having time to discuss what was needed in this area.
Monitoring Guidance
In 2024 we published a number of pieces of work including guidance on undertaking green monitoring and a tool to help trial teams identify appropriate monitoring triggers and metrics. You can find out more information here.
We have also updated the Monitoring Handbook to incorporate the greener monitoring guidance. Details on where to find the updated document will be emailed to the monitoring leads for each CTU in due course.
Do contact the UKCRC network at rectus@leeds.ac.uk if you want to become actively involved in any monitoring projects.
– Sharon Love (MRC CTU at UCL)
PPI&E Group Update
Our recent focus has been to investigate the training needs of CTU staff and trial management teams in relation to the support of PPIE members and PPIE activities in general.
We are currently finalising a survey that drills down into current CTU practice relating to PPIE members. This will include how frequently they are involved in key trial activities such as defining the research question and important outcomes, interpreting trial results, and dissemination activities. We will also look at whether there are differences in PPIE member involvement between industry and non-industry funded trials, and the range of training and resources available to trial teams who are responsible for supporting this involvement.
Once reviewed, the information gathered will be used to provide recommendations for future training resources and materials. We encourage all CTUs to take part in order to make the data as comprehensive as possible.
We hope to circulate the survey to trial teams early this year, so please keep an eye out for the email.
– Sally Hopewell (Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit) and Laura Farrelly (MRC CTU at UCL)
PeRSEVERE Project Update
2024 has been a busy and important year for the PeRSEVERE (PRincipleS for handling end-of-participation EVEnts in clinical trials REsearch) Project with the publication of some new resources, a number of sessions at the International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference in Edinburgh, and a spin-off project looking at what data trial teams collect about participation changes.
Click here to find out more.
Get Involved
How inclusive of under-served groups are the trials at your CTU?
A team of trialists and researchers at the Department of Primary Care Health Sciences in Oxford have carried out an audit of the inclusivity of under-served groups in the trials run by their Clinical Trials Unit.
They are now looking for:
1) other CTUs to undertake the audit, and
2) to contribute to a piece of work bringing together the challenges and learnings from different CTUs.
If you might be interested please get in touch with Rebekah Burrow or Melanie Carr.
Training & Development Opportunities
The Network, and its member CTUs, are committed to sharing their knowledge of best practice in clinical trials research from the absolute fundamentals of trial development and management to the use of the latest novel trial designs.
You can find out about some of the upcoming learning and development opportunities taking place across the Network here.
Job Opportunities
Working in an an academic or non-commercial CTU can offer you exciting opportunities that may not be available to you elsewhere. These range from publishing your research, presenting at national or international conferences, or teaching the next generation of researchers, as well as making a positive difference to patient and public health.
You can find out more about current vacancies across the Network here.
THE INFORMATION INCLUDED BELOW HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY PARTNER ORGANISATIONS
AND IS INCLUDED WITHOUT EDITS
UK Trial Managers’ Network Update
UKTMN Subscription now available
New option for those outside of the trial management field to stay updated with news from the UKTMN – more information here https://www.tmn.ac.uk/articles/new-ways-to-join-the-uktmn.
UKTMN Annual Conference – Save the date 3 June 2025
To be held in Newcastle. More details will be circulated to members very soon, including registration and programme.
Training
A training survey was circulated to members to help us identify priorities for 2025, thank you to everyone who responded. Two courses scheduled for 2025 so far, including introduction to grant writing and how to be a good trial manager, both fully registered with waiting lists in operation.
ASPIRE leadership programme
The bespoke UKTMN ASPIRE leadership programme received 49 applications, and 25 were offered following an application review. First cohort first session to take place in February 2025.
Planning for 2025
We are busy reviewing our activities and achievements from 2024 and identifying priorities and activities for 2025. Once finalised, our work plan detailing our aims for the year will be available on our website.
To find out more about the UKTMN
Email: uktmn@nottingham.ac.uk
Web: www.tmn.ac.uk
Do you use X? Then follow us for our latest news: @UKTMN
NHS DigiTrials Update
Update to the DigiTrials Self-Service Tool
The NHS DigiTrials Feasibility Self-Service tool has been improved following user feedback.
The tool allows researchers to independently search over 63 million potential people to count and locate those eligible for their clinical trials without identifying individuals. A subscription charge covers the costs of running and maintaining the system.
Click the image to download a presentation
on NHS DigiTrials.
NHS England is keen for anyone who’s planning a clinical trial to take a look and see if it can help them. The Feasibility Self-Service tool can be accessed here: Feasibility Service webpage.
NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) Update
NIHR Research Delivery Network updates on key government priority projects – December 2024
Since its official launch on 1 October 2024, the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) is making progress on delivering government priority projects set up in response to the changing requirements of the health and care research system.
The government priority projects respond to the priorities in the health and care system and have been designed to help make the UK a more attractive place to conduct high quality research. The NIHR has been specifically asked to deliver these by the Department of Health and Social Care.
The December updates include:
Scoping Locations for Research
A new Scoping Locations for Research tool has been created to boost transparency and speed up the process of selecting research locations across the whole of the UK.
This self-service tool combines RDN research activity data with local prevalence. It helps sponsors, their delegates and researchers take a data-driven approach to quickly scoping potential locations for research. This proof-of-concept will be further expanded to include population demographics to support visibility of participant diversity.
We have co-created this tool working directly with trade bodies, life science companies, Delivery organisations and existing national working groups to display relevant insights for attracting research to the UK. Now available more widely, broader user feedback can be gathered to further enhance this innovative tool.
The self-service tool meets a specific requirement of the research sector while also acting as an additional entry point into the UK wide research location identification service, which coordinates study specific interest nation-wide. The RDN service is being transformed to deliver a consistent, quicker and transparent approach to match studies with optimal research locations for research delivery. Learnings from implementation of this new approach, with over 50% of NHS organisations in England to date, is being consolidated to refine the approach as this is rolled out.
The Scoping Locations for Research training video is available.
Enhancement of the Sponsor Engagement Tool
The Sponsor Engagement Tool for studies on the NIHR RDN Portfolio has been enhanced.
In response to user feedback and in order to support sponsors to meet the expectations outlined in the DHSC policy ‘Terms & Conditions for NIHR RDN support’, the tool now enables users to have improved visibility, oversight and control of the data the RDN holds on the sponsor organisation’s portfolio of studies.
Engagement with the tool and ensuring the data the RDN-holds is up-to-date, supports users of RDN data (including DHSC and NHS England) with data-driven decision making. More accurate data also enables sponsors (and their delegates) with efficient planning and placement activities for future studies. RDN-held data (along with other sources) is used to help generate a picture of research being delivered in the UK, and enables the research community to work in partnership with the RDN.
The Network Support for Sponsors video provides more information.
The National Contract Value Review
The National Contract Value Review (NCVR), in which the RDN plays a key operational role, is driving significant efficiencies in the research system. NCVR is a UK-wide process which has standardised pricing and contract terms for commercial research across the NHS. Initially implemented for phase 3 and 4 studies, in October 2024 it was extended to all trial phases and has become routine practice for commercial research. General Practice continues to benefit from this approach through a voluntary sign up scheme. The number of days taken from initial service submission to first patient recruitment has fallen by 244 days since the 2019/20 financial year, when NCVR started. The timeline for contract signature has fallen by 146 days since NCVR went live nationally, in October 2022.
NIHR Academy Update
Opening soon: ROK-UK Smart Clinical Trials Collaboration Award
Our new award, jointly funded by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, will enable you to build working relationships with researchers based in the Republic of Korea (ROK).
Interdisciplinary teams based in both the UK and the ROK can receive up to £100,000 to support:
– Placements
– Workshops
– Partnership-building activities
By undertaking these activities, you will build relationships and enable research into smart clinical trial delivery.
Learn more about the ROK-UK Smart Clinical Trials Collaboration Award and our researcher match-making scheme.
Applications will open mid-January 2025
Develop your leadership skills
New e-learning modules are available to help you enhance your leadership and management skills. The free modules are suitable to those new to leadership or experienced. The latest three modules will help you learn how to lead change, overcome imposter phenomenon and encourage safe conflict. Find out more by registering or logging into NIHR Learn, and selecting Leadership Development, and then Leadership e-learning Modules.
Royal Colleges e-learning programme
Free online modules are available for health and care professionals with an interest in research. A partnership between NIHR and 7 Royal Colleges and the College of Optometrists is enabling online content tailored to the training needs of their researchers. Find out what courses are currently available on NIHR Learn.
Create a strong feedback culture
Learn how to develop a strong feedback culture with NIHR’s new e-learning module that has been developed to enhance your leadership and management skills. It is suitable for those new to leadership or experienced. There are 10 other modules that have been developed and are available to use. This includes modules on self awareness, hybrid working, effective collaboration, leading change and strategic awareness..
Find out more by registering or logging into NIHR Learn, and selecting Research Workforce Training, and then Leadership e-learning Modules.
Develop your influencing skills
NIHR’s latest e-learning module will help you uncover a range of influencing tactics, understand your influencing style and build an influencing toolkit. Available to RDN staff/networks as well as health and care professionals, the 40-minute course explores ways to engage people or groups and find strategies for overcoming influencing blockers. Find out more searching for ‘Leadership eLearning modules’ on NIHR Learn.
