An update on North Thames GCP training

Key actions are being taken by the CRN to ensure all staff involved in health research can continue to access the training they need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Good Clinical Practice (GCP) training is the foundation-stone for many involved in research. The training is often provided face-to-face, but face-to-face training has been suspended on public health grounds during the pandemic.

 

To provide guidance on what training individuals might need during the pandemic, the NIHR has developed a Delegation and Training Decision Aid. The aid is designed to help local research delivery sites consider what individuals are being asked to do in the context of individual research projects and determine what training and learning they need to be effective.

 

Though training requirements should be instructed by study sponsors, and trust R&D departments, it is recommended that anyone with freedom to act on the delegation log – those with a detailed knowledge of the study such as principal investigators and research nurses - should complete ‘Introduction to Good Clinical Practice (GCP)’, alongside their other identified training. Staff without freedom to act, such as those who only have limited duties within a study, might complete the ‘Fundamentals’ orientation training, delivered by experienced study team members.

 

Although CRN North Thames will not be running the usual face-to-face training at NHS trusts during the pandemic, both the ‘Introduction to Good Clinical Practice (GCP)’ and ‘Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Refresher’ courses are available online and will be further updated in the coming weeks.

 

Historically we have also delivered the ‘Fundamentals’ training and the GCP follow-on training, such as Informed Consent and PI Essentials, in a face-to-face format and these will shortly be accessible via webinar. Elearning has also been created to support ‘Informed Consent Fundamentals for Observational Studies’ and a new ‘Research Practice in Clinical Settings’ module has also been added to NIHR Learn.

 

Additional foundational training, ‘Research Practice in Clinical Settings’, to provide awareness of key themes, without the depth provided in GCP training, is set to be launched soon.

 

The NIHR CRN Learning Development team is working hard to keep training accessible and will continue to ensure that courses are kept relevant to the needs of those supporting the nationally approved and adopted COVID research studies.

 

All online courses and more information can be found at: https://learn.nihr.ac.uk/