Deliver your trial at Patient Recruitment Centre: Newcastle
The national Patient Recruitment Centre programme is purpose-designed to increase the UK’s capacity to deliver late-phase commercial clinical research, and here in Newcastle we have a lot to offer.
The PRC is located at the Campus for Ageing and Vitality in the north east of England and is hosted by The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. With a history of ground-breaking innovation in care, Newcastle Hospitals have a worldwide reputation for the quality and range of its clinical research. The Patient Recruitment Centre adds to the high quality research facilities across our Hospital sites and offers unique services to the Life Sciences Industry.
“The RELIEVE IBS-D trial team has gone to great efforts to keep IBS research going throughout the pandemic. Working with a forward-thinking NHS team like the one at Newcastle has really helped us transition to this new virtual version of our trial. Enrolment, consent, treatment and doctor visits are all being conducted remotely, without the patient needing to leave their home.”
Enteromed Ltd
Research expertise and track record
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS organisations in the UK and a renowned world class provider of healthcare. It is also one of the most research-active NHS organisations in England, with a successful track record in delivering commercial research. Use the links below to find out more.
Research expertise
Our chief and principal investigators deliver research in all 30 therapeutic areas and we also offer access to a much wider pool of world renowned NHS key opinion leaders.
Patient experience
Last year, 97% of participants said that they would consider taking part in research again at our PRC.
Time and target
On average, 82% of the commercial studies we have supported have achieved their recruitment target on time.
Volume of trials
In the last five years, Newcastle Hospitals have supported 400 commercial studies resulting in excellent relationships with pharmaceutical companies and Contract Research Organisations (CROs).
Participants recruited
We have recruited over 700 participants per year into commercial research studies on average during the past five years.
Recruitment successes
We have had 18 first Global/European/UK participants recruited at the host NHS trust in the past five years. In 2020, we also set up and successfully delivered one of the UK’s first fully virtual commercial interventional clinical trials in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Find out more our research expertise and experience
Visit our 'More about our research expertise and experience' page.
Research facilities and regional reach
Being linked to one of the most research-active NHS organisations in England, with high quality research facilities, has led to a successful track record in delivering commercial research. Our staff oversee around 1.84m patient 'contacts’ each year, with more than 30% of those patients coming from outside the region to take advantage of our expertise.

Unique to our region
Our region has some of the highest levels of social deprivation and disease burden prevalence rates in the country, which offers unique opportunities for research and to improve health outcomes for our population.
State-of-the-art facilities
Our PRC offers a purpose-built centre specifically designed to deliver commercially sponsored research, while our host Trust provides access to high quality research facilities across its hospital sites and at partners’ sites.
Integrated data systems
Through Newcastle Hospitals partnership in the Great North Care Record and our PRC’s patient and volunteer registry Research+Me, we can support rapid, targeted high volume patient recruitment.
Regional relationships
Our regional partnerships enable us to have an extensive recruitment reach. Our links with Primary Care Networks enable us to reach over 80,000 people and through our links with the local Integrated Care System (ICS), we can reach up to 1.2 million people across our regional geography.
Recruitment reach
Our multi-faceted approach to patient recruitment improves the efficiency and effectiveness of accessing participants from our population and beyond.
Find out more about our recruitment reach and facilities
Learn more about region and local partnerships by visiting our 'More about our region and facilities' page.
Studies delivered at PRC: Newcastle
Take a look at our research portfolio delivered here at PRC: Newcastle since we opened our doors in November 2020.
Get in touch
Get in touch to discuss your upcoming research projects and find out how we can help you.
- Phone: +44 (0) 191 282 1369
- Email: nuth.PRCNewcastle@nhs.net
Related pages
External links
- Patient Recruitment Centre: Blackpool
- Patient Recruitment Centre: Bradford
- Patient Recruitment Centre: Exeter
- Patient Recruitment Centre: Leicester
- North East & North Cumbria LCRN
- The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Newcastle Joint Research Office
- ResearchPlusMe Registry
- Be Part of Research
- COVID-19 Vaccine Registry