Case study: Accreditation opens new opportunities for south London CRP

Jasmine Stanley-Haga, an NIHR CRN South London Community/Public Health Research Practitioner, works on portfolio studies that are set in the community.

Jasmine has just undergone professional accreditation and joined the Clinical Research Practitioner Register. The Register is part of a national strategy led by the NIHR to enable the growth and professional development of CRP roles as a key part of the research delivery workforce. She believes it will strengthen her sense of professional identity and open new job opportunities.

Jasmine, a member of CRN South London’s Direct Delivery Team, works on studies in settings outside of primary or secondary care, such as mother-and-baby studies, children's wellbeing studies, elderly care studies, and end-of-life studies.

Jasmine is currently working on the CHELsea II study, which is looking at clinically-assisted hydration in end-of-life care. She visits a hospice in south London one day a week, where she goes to the wards to collect the case report forms with the data collected by nurses. She transcribes the data to an anonymised book, which ensures that research data is free of personally identifiable information. Jasmine says:

“The most interesting part of my day at the hospice is attending multi-disciplinary team meetings as I learn about the care plans for each patient.

“Something that surprised me about end-of-life care is how hospices take care of the whole family, even helping to organise packages of care for family members who are ill. One patient on end-of-life care wished to see an elephant up close, so the hospice reached out to a local zoo and arranged a visit for her.”

On other days, Jasmine contacts sites, such as schools or care homes, to see if they are interested in taking part in a specific research study. Sometimes, she goes out to visit a site and discuss a study they are interested in. She says:

“My favourite part is getting to be out in the community and talking to people about studies they could benefit from. I really love when I have studies recruiting mothers with children under 12 months, because I get to visit a baby group nearly every day. I'd then drop flyers off in GPs, pharmacies, and nurseries that I'd walk past on my way back.”

After hearing about professional CRP accreditation, Jasmine immediately knew this was something she wanted to work towards. She says:

“Before my current job, while working in the NHS, I felt a lack of professional identity because I wasn't a nurse or a physiotherapist. I felt that even though I had a degree, I found it hard to make myself heard. It was difficult to progress because people didn't understand my skills. I hope that professional accreditation will be a testament of my competence, skills, and professional commitment."

Jasmine believes accreditation will open more job opportunities for her in the future, as many jobs ask for relevant registration. She thinks employers will have more reassurance in her ability to deal with challenges. She says:

“I encourage anyone who doesn't currently have a registration to apply. I would also suggest that, if you are applying, to ask for support from someone who has already gone through the process. Although the application process was straightforward and simple, it would have been much smoother if I had help from someone who had already done it.”

To learn more about the CRP Register, visit the Academy for Healthcare Science website.