Study Support

Our Study Support Service helps you to plan, place and perform research. We are here to help with commercial and non-commercial studies where North Thames is the lead local Clinical Research Network (CRN).

We work with researchers from the initial idea stage to the end of recruitment to the study. We offer a friendly, bespoke service that can support studies in the NHS and wider health and social care environment.

For non-commercial research, we can support you if your study meets the eligibility criteria for the NIHR Portfolio (see heading below).

CRN Portfolio eligibility

The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) Portfolio of studies consists of research studies that are eligible for support from the NIHR CRN in England.

All high-quality research studies, eligible for NIHR CRN support in England, are included on the NIHR CRN Portfolio. NIHR CRN supported studies benefit from the following: 

• Access to the NIHR CRN Study Support Service - a standard national framework for supporting the planning, set-up and delivery of high quality clinical research in England.
• Provision of NHS support as defined by Attributing the costs of health and social care Research and Development (AcoRD) and/or the equivalent of NHS Support in other settings (e.g. research carried out in social care, care homes, hospices, or public health settings).
• Provision of Research Part B costs as defined by AcoRD (for studies funded by AMRC member charities only).
• Access to relevant research delivery training, including Good Clinical Practice training.
• ISRCTN registration via the Central Portfolio Management System. Registration of non-commercial studies with an interventional component is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care.
• Signposting and providing general advice
• Helping to identify suitable sites for your study in the NHS, general practices and non-NHS organisations
• Feasibility support
• Assisting with any issues encountered during the study's life-cycle

NIHR CRN support is available to all studies, regardless of location, study type, study size, therapy or research area, provided they meet the Department of Health and Social Care established eligibility criteria.

For more information on CRN Portfolio eligibility for commercial studies, please contact:  industry.crnnorththames@nihr.ac.uk

For more information on CRN Portfolio eligibility for non-commercial studies, please contact: sss.crnnorththames@nihr.ac.uk  

Commercial study support

We can provide advice to sponsors, Contract Research Organisations (CROs) and sites on commercial research. 

Our support for commercial studies includes the following:

• Signposting and providing general advice
• Adoption support onto the NIHR portfolio
• Supporting a local feasibility assessment of your study
• Helping to identify suitable or additional sites in North Thames
• Providing intelligence on pre-selected sites
• Assisting with potential issues you might encounter during the study's life-cycle
• Development of study-specific industry costings
• The use of the NIHR interactive Costing Tool and access and use of the Tool through the Central Portfolio Management System
• National Directive for Commercial Contract Research Studies and the NHS England National Contract Review process and implementation

To find out more about any of the above, contact the industry team: industry.crnnorththames@nihr.ac.uk 

Non-commercial AcoRD support

We have AcoRD Leads within North Thames who are able to ensure researchers have all the support they need around the attribution of study activities.

We can provide the following support:

• Schedule of Events Costing Attribution Tool validation at grant award stage and regulatory submission
• Support the identification and approval of excess treatment costs.

For more information and support, please contact the AcoRD team on: acord.crnnorththames@nihr.ac.uk or telephone Harshinder Virdee on 07743 929211.

For more information or support required pre-grant you can access the service via the Research Design Service in London.

Information/contact

For more information, please contact us at: sss.crnnorththames@nihr.ac.uk or visit the national Run Your Study page on the NIHR website.