Major increase in Thames Valley research study participants
The number of participants in health research studies supported by the NIHR Clinical Research Network Thames Valley and South Midlands (LCRN) has risen to more than 60,000.
A total of 63,649 participants were involved in 779 LCRN-supported studies in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire in 2018/19 - the highest number on record - up from 43,615 participants in 778 studies the previous year.
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust recruited 7,690 participants to 105 studies, compared to 4,956 participants in 103 studies the previous year. The trust was ranked third among large acute trusts for the number of participants.
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust recruited 1,212 participants to 44 studies, placing it tenth out of mental health trusts in England for the number of studies.
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust recruited 5,386 participants to 83 studies in 2018/19, compared to 4,024 participants to 79 studies the previous year. It was ranked second among medium acute trusts for the number of participants.
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust recruited 4,395 participants to 53 studies - compared to 2,788 the previous year - placing it first among small acute trusts for the number of participants.
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust recruited 32,285 participants to 534 NIHR-supported studies, compared to 20,937 to 517 studies the previous year. It was ranked second in England for all hospital trusts and first for acute teaching hospital trusts for the number of participants and research studies. The trust also recruited 4,615 participants to 119 commercial studies, placing it first for the number of participants and fourth for the number of studies.
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust recruited 2,891 participants to 61 studies, compared to 2,242 participants to 60 studies the previous year. It was ranked fourth among mental health trusts for the number of participants and studies.
A further 7,751 participants were involved in 66 studies in community settings such as GP practices in Thames Valley and South Midlands. Oxfordshire had more participants than any other NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) region in England at 5,921.
A total of 4,912 participants were involved in 151 commercial studies in Thames Valley and South Midlands’ NHS.
There were also 2,043 participants in 20 studies in non-NHS settings such as schools and care homes.
Prof Belinda Lennox, Clinical Director for the NIHR Clinical Research Network Thames Valley and South Midlands, said: “We have had another fantastic year delivering research across our region. The hard work of the research nurses, consultants and other healthcare professionals we support has led to the number of participants in clinical research increasing in Thames Valley and South Midlands to 63,649. That is people from right across the region, in hospitals, community settings and GP practices.
“With more people taking part in research, we can make advances in medical research more rapidly than ever before, developing new treatments for the most serious, life threatening illnesses and improving the care that our NHS can provide as a result.”
The NIHR Clinical Research Network has published its NHS Research Activity League Table for 2018/19, which provides information about the most ‘research active’ NHS trusts and CCGs in England. View the table at https://www.nihr.ac.uk/nihrleaguetable
