The South West Study Support Service - Supporting Research from Early Idea to ‘Green Light’
Before a research study can be adopted to the NIHR CRN portfolio it must meet certain criteria, our Study Support Service is set up to help you navigate this process and support the study to maximise the chance of being supported.
In the South West Peninsula this service is delivered by Maxine Hough, Study Support Service Co-ordinator and Specialist Research Nurse. She works closely with researchers and the life sciences industry to help them plan, set up and deliver high quality research to time and target in both the NHS and the wider health and social care environment.
Maxine describes her role: “The Study Support Service engages with investigators and partner organisations to advise about the ‘doability’ of NIHR funded research. We discuss the patient pathway through the NHS and how to make the study work ensuring appropriate access to service support and treatment costs. We engage with sites and perform feasibility testing to help identify the most appropriate NHS and Non NHS sites for each individual study.”
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Growing Demand
The service offers support, advice and expertise to a huge range of research studies, covering over 30 speciality areas, every year and this is growing. The number of studies and patients recruited onto NIHR CRN supported studies have both increased by approximately 30% in three years (FY 2016/17 - FY 2018/19 - source) and in 2018/19 over 875,000 participants were involved in studies across England.
Dr Sam Merriel, Clinical Senior Research Fellow at University of Exeter Medical School, is delivering the ‘Acceptability of mpMRI for prostate cancer diagnosis in primary care’ and had this to say about his work with Maxine and the team:
“Max has been an exceptional support with any query I have had. She responds to all queries very promptly, and happily arranges face to face meetings whenever necessary despite clearly being very busy. She is very knowledgeable about the NIHR and the CRN.”
A Flexible Service That Meets Your Needs
The type of studies on the NIHR portfolio and are investigated range greatly but some requirements are essential for any study. The Study Support Service will help you to navigate the various systems and processes to get your study up and running and advice how to deliver your research to time and target.
Areas that the Study Support Service can assist include:
- Early Contact and Engagement
- Early Feedback
- Site Identification
- Optimising Delivery
- Effective Study Set-up
- Performance Monitoring
The service offers a ‘interactive route map’ designed specifically to support commercial studies.
Adding Value To The NHS
In the year 2018/19 the team supported 117 studies, 38 of which contacted the Study Support Service via early contact. John Charity, Associate Specialist in Trauma and Orthopaedics at Royal Devon and Exeter Trust, said:
“My experience so far has been fantastic. I have felt very well supported by the NIHR on all aspects of this study (Hemi Spaire Study).”
The NIHR enables and supports research to improve the NHS, healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. This journey starts with the Study Support Service and can end with a profound change to a patient’s health outcomes. Maxine and her team are available to help anyone considering perusing a research study understands the practicalities of it and see how the NIHR is designed to help research to flourish.
For more information speak to the Study Support Service using:
Telephone: 01872 255 164
Email: rch-tr.SWPStudySupportService@nhs.net
