100% of NHS Trusts now research active
25 October 2016
100% of NHS trusts in England are offering research to patients according to a league table published Tuesday 25 October by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN). The 2015/16 NIHR Research Activity League Table shows all NHS trusts in England are delivering clinical research, providing thousands more patients with access to better treatments and care.
Promoting, conducting and using clinical research to improve treatments for patients is part of the NHS England Constitution. The NIHR Research Activity League Table provides a picture of how much clinical research is happening, where, in what types of trusts, and involving how many patients.
The 2015/16 league table is topped by Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for the fifth year running with the highest number of research studies [514]. Barts Health NHS Trust feature at the top of the league table for the amount of commercial studies delivered [140 studies], and also have the biggest increase in studies from last year [279 to 335] joint with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust [365 to 421] who both saw a 56 study increase.
Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR CRN, Dr Jonathan Sheffield said:
“This year’s NIHR Research Activity League Table shows every NHS trust in England is now research active, and that over 60% increased their research activity last year [53% for Clinical Commissioning Groups]. NHS organisations of all types and sizes are conducting research, offering more and more patients the chance to take part in innovative research studies. Evidence clearly shows research active trusts have better patient outcomes, with 605,000 people across England participating in research in the NHS in last year the outlook is very encouraging”
“The league table results are a great achievement for all involved, and highlight the growing commitment to research from the NHS and patients. Special congratulations go to Newcastle NHS Foundation Trust for ensuring that research is consistently embedded as part of everyday patient care, and also to Barts Health NHS Trust and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust for the largest increase in research studies over the past year.”
Commercial research activity is an added feature for the 2015/16 league table. Collaboration with industry is vital to enable the NHS to deliver first class clinical research, speeding up the development and availability of new treatments, therapies and diagnostics.
Primary care research is also highlighted as part of the report, listing the extent of research activity happening in communities across the country. Greater Manchester NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), achieved a remarkable 700% increase in research activity from last years data. Last year over 42% of English GP practices recruited people to NIHR research studies.
Commenting on the league table results, Chris Whitty, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Health said:
“The support and infrastructure provided by the National Institute for Health Research has year on year helped increase the number of research opportunities offered within the NHS. Commercial partnerships supported by the Clinical Research Network continue to play a key role in bringing world-class research studies to the UK, benefiting our health service and ensuring new treatments are available to patients as quickly as possible.”
Highlights from the 2015/16 NIHR Research Activity League Table
The following NHS trust types have been ranked in terms of the largest quantity of research for the 2015/16 league table;
- Acute – The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [537 studies]
- Mental Health – South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust [94 studies]
- CCG – NHS Oxfordshire [51 studies]
- Care – Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust [50 studies]
- Ambulance – South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust [8 studies]
The following NHS trust types have been ranked in terms of the largest increase in the quantity of research since the 2014/15 league table;
- Barts Health NHS Trust [56 study increase] and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust [56 study increase]
- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [52 study increase]
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust [51 study increase]
- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [44 study increase]
- Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [41 study increase]
The NIHR Research Activity League Table can be accessed from the NIHR website: http://www.nihr.ac.uk/research-and-impact/nhs-research-performance/league-tables/league-table-data.htm