Researchers

Why work with us?

The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) North West London supports the high quality clinical research taking place at the heart of the NHS and social care services, leading to improved treatments and patient care for all. We do this by funding research staff in local services, from hospitals to GP surgeries. This experienced workforce make patients aware of research opportunities and support the delivery of clinical research.

Being on the ground, we know the best sites to conduct research, where specific patient populations are and how to access the right equipment. We understand how the NHS works and we can help the clinical research community plan, set up and deliver clinical research on time and to target.

Thanks to our support and guidance, over half a million participants have taken part in research in North West London over the last decade.

Life Sciences/Industry

Supporting high-quality commercial contract clinical research across all therapeutic areas is a high priority for the NIHR Clinical Research Network. Here in North West London we provide a direct route for companies to access experts and collaborators within our world-leading NIHR research centres and the NHS. As well as helping you to navigate the NHS, we offer a wide range of practical services that are designed to help you set-up and deliver high quality commercial research studies to time and target, whatever the size or therapeutic area.

CRN North West London is hosted by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and covers eight boroughs. We have a very diverse patient population of 2.6 million and support eight NHS Trusts - 90% of our partners are commercially active. We also work closely with primary care - 72% of our GP surgeries are commercially active.

Whether you are a pharmaceutical giant, a medium-sized medical technology firm, or a small CRO, we can help. The earlier you get in touch, the more scope you have to make the most of our support.

Find out more by getting in touch at industry.crnnwlondon@nihr.ac.uk.

North West London Clinical Trials Alliance

The North West London Clinical Trials Alliance is a collaboration between:

NIHR Clinical Research Network North West London, including its partners in primary care settings
The clinical research facilities (CRFs) hosted by:
- Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust
Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
London Ambulance Service NHS Trust
West London NHS Trust

The Alliance is dedicated to delivering commercial and non-commercial sponsored clinical trials - utilising existing and purpose-designed facilities to successfully deliver both early and late-phase research.

It aims to increase regional capacity for delivering commercial clinical research, as well as to improve the ease and speed of research delivery, patient access to clinical research and patient opportunities for early access to cutting edge treatment and therapies that are not yet widely available through the NHS.

This will be achieved through collaborative working, using our understanding of the needs and priorities of life science companies and our strong regional team ethos to work in a harmonised manner across centres. The Alliance can identify world-renowned clinicians to work as principal investigators (PIs) for studies across a wide range of specialties, and provide support from highly-skilled research delivery staff at all sites.

Find out more about the North West London Clinical Trials Alliance.

Workforce Development

Our Workforce Development team provides learning and development opportunities to develop research as an attractive career option across North West London. Find out more about the training we offer.

Study Support Service

Our Study Support Service offers a range of support across the research pathway to enable the successful delivery of clinical research studies. For more information, visit the Study Support Service page.

Strategic Workforce

The Strategic Workforce is a team of experienced research nurses and clinical research practitioners who can assist with recruitment duties. Support is agreed for a fixed time period to help our partners meet their targets.

Requests can be made for any study on the CRN Portfolio that is delivered by a partner organisation of the CRN North West London. Priority may be given to studies that are nearing the end of recruitment but still need to meet their target.

To request support, please complete the Strategic Workforce request form. If you have any queries, please email: nwl-resource-requests@nihr.ac.uk.

Primary Care Team

Serving a population of 2.4 million, General Practitioners in North West London are fully committed to supporting high quality clinical research supported by the central Primary Care CRN team. Throughout the last few years we have been working to ensure that all patients in the area are afforded the opportunity to participate in research and work closely with investigators to ensure that clinical trials are set up and delivered as efficiently as possible:

Capacity and Capability

Capability and capacity is issued centrally on behalf of our GPs ensuring that studies meet the national 30 day set up deadline. The team also act as a single point of contact eliminating the need for multiple contacts.

Working at Scale

We work with large GP networks, allowing us to access 1.3 million patients, which increases exponentially when you include the number of workers registered with a GP in central London.

Research Hubs

We collaborate with several large teaching practices in the area that help deliver and promote research across North West London (pop 1,115,000 approx.)

Engagement

Engagement with clinical trials has risen in the last few years and we currently have 40% of all GPs in North West London recruiting to clinical trials. With the further implementation of the Working at Scale Model we are confident that this will continue to increase year after year. We are also committed to embedding research into day to day business and have successfully run weekend and evening research clinics which are more accessible for patients.

Communications

We can help you make sure everyone knows about the research supported by our Network, from the moment you launch to when you announce your results. We can also help you with recruitment through our website, social media, newsletters, the local media and other channels. For more information on what support we can offer please get in touch: comms.crnnwl@nihr.ac.uk.

Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement

Need advice on how to involve patients and the public in your research? Please get in touch: ppie.crnnwl@nihr.ac.uk.

Specialties Study SupportThrough the Study Support Service the Clinical Research Network North West London supports researchers to develop, set up and deliver high quality research.