CRN Kent, Surrey and Sussex Annual Report 2022/23
CRN Kent, Surrey and Sussex’s (CRN KSS) annual report for 2022/23 (opens in Canva) is a celebration of all that has been achieved with stakeholders and partners across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
Some of the highlights are:
CRN KSS worked with sponsors to ensure they were able to refresh, rebalance, and update their portfolios. Existing communication channels and strong partner relationships enabled sustained visibility of and engagement with the Reset programme.
The CRN KSS Research Delivery Team grew during 2022/23, both in the number of team members and in the number of studies being supported in new wider health and care settings such as care homes and schools. This included supporting the DACHA (Developing research resources And minimum data set for Care Homes’ Adoption) study. You can read a case study about the DACHA study within the report.
CRN KSS continued to recognise health and care service staff’s commitment to research through the annual Research Support Awards. More nominations were received than the previous year and for the first time colleagues in primary care and care homes were nominated and received awards. This demonstrates that research is no longer something that happens solely in hospitals but involves the entire community.
Substantial progress was made towards growing a research culture within local authorities. CRN KSS embedded researchers in five new local authorities, up from one in 2021/22. Also, CRN KSS has created a collaborative role within the Kent Research Partnership (KRP) to develop links between the CRN and social care researchers in Kent. This has driven improvements in mutual learning, and strengthened working relationships between the CRN and the social care research community, improving processes and systems for supporting social care research.
The Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Space to Lead initiative and the under-served programme contributed to the growth in the number of public Research Champions, as well as supporting the development of future PPIE leaders. Over half (55%) of partners have research PPIE Leads who participate in the Space to Lead programme, with 70% of all NHS partners actively contributing within the CRN PPIE forum. This programme is driving significant changes within the culture of partner organisations, through the development of inclusive and system approaches to engagement and involvement, and inspiring members of Research and Development teams in other organisations to turn their attention to leadership for PPIE.
CRN KSS funded 13 outreach projects that built connections with under-served ethnic and socio-economic groups to identify and overcome barriers to engagement in research. Many of these projects have established, for the first time, a meaningful and sustainable dialogue between these communities and researchers. Other projects have developed tools and resources to help researchers and clinicians better understand and interact with under-served groups.
