How can I get involved in research?

As a professional, there are a number of ways you could get involved in healthcare research:

• Recruiting participants into a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network portfolio research study
• Undertaking post graduate qualifications (e.g. masters, PhD) to develop an academic career
• Developing and gaining funding for your own project

Not all clinical research involves participants such as patients or staff. For example, you could undertake a literature review to evaluate existing evidence to inform your clinical practice.

There are other activities that support quality improvement that do not have to be part of a research project – although they may inform a future study. For example, undertaking a clinical audit or carrying out a service evaluation. You could present any findings at conferences or write up as reports, articles or papers for publication and wider dissemination.

How can my employing organisation help?

Every NHS Trust in Greater Manchester has an Research & Innovation (R&I) office who support their staff in undertaking safe, well governed and effective research. Larger Trusts (e.g. Northern Care Alliance NHS FT or Manchester University NHS FT) have bigger teams with more resources, so the level of support available may vary. Typically, an R&I Office will help Trust staff with:

• Research planning, design and analysis
• Funding opportunities (e.g. grants or awards etc)
• Involving patients and the public
• Involving commercial sponsors/funders
• Training and education
• Study approval including relevant governance checks
• Study management and conduct
• Study close-out, reporting and dissemination

R&I offices may have more detailed information on your Trust’s intranet, but you can find out more here:

• Bolton NHS FT
• Northern Care Alliance NHS FT
• Manchester University NHS FT
• Stockport NHS FT
• Tameside & Glossop Integrated NHS FT
• Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS FT

The Northern Care Alliance NHS FT has the Centre for Care Research that provides a foundation for non medical clinicians to gain the skills and confidence to become research leaders. It has a regular bulletin featuring research opportunities for its staff.

Larger Trusts in Greater Manchester have established partnerships with local universities as well as commercial collaborations with pharmaceutical or technology companies. They may also host NIHR research infrastructure.

What training is available to help develop my research skills?

The NIHR supports training in research including: Good Clinical Practice, informed consent, key aspects of clinical trial management and Principal Investigator. You can access the North West Clinical Research Network website here and will be directed to the national NIHR Learn website where you will need to set up an account to access.

Trust R&I offices may also offer training in research skills so check their website.

How can my team become more active in research?

The NIHR has some useful insights on creating and embedding a research culture in teams.  Evidenced based practice is the corner stone of delivering high quality clinical care, however, not everyone in a team will have time to keep up to date with the latest research or be involved in studies.

You could nominate someone with a keen interest to act as a research champion in your team. The best place to start is to get in touch with your R&I office and find out what support may be available, as some Trusts have champion schemes. There is an example role description in the download section below.

Useful resources

Why do clinical research? | Faculty of Medicine | Imperial College London