New ABPI report shows signs of recovery for UK industry clinical trials
The UK’s commercial clinical trials landscape is improving, according to a report published by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) today. The organisation’s annual report on industry clinical trial performance shows a small increase in the number of trials and recruitment, but that there’s more to do to push the UK up the global rankings so that more people can benefit from clinical trials. You can read the full report on the ABPI website.
Coming soon…results of our Public Perceptions of Research survey
We’re getting ready to publish the results of our nationwide survey on the public’s perceptions of health and social care research.
We commissioned the YouGov survey to understand what is important to the public in research and what earns their trust. YouGov collected data from a representative sample of 5,030 people from across the UK.
This new report will inform our work going forward, particularly our priority to increase the diversity of research participants.
The new poll echoes a similar survey commissioned by the HRA in 2017.
Decentralised trial methods
We’ve recently published a position statement to confirm the current UK position on the use of decentralised trial methods. This includes key considerations for sponsors and those working in research teams, as well as links to useful resources. You can read the position statement on our website.
Making sure clinical research is people-centred
We have been working alongside members of the public, the University of Lincoln and researchers on how clinical research happens for the people taking part, and those it’s for and about. There are both ethical and practical reasons why we should do research in more people centred ways. Research projects can fail when it’s not easy for people to take part, or they only provide answers for some people in society.
That’s why we’ve co-produced the hallmarks of good people-centred research, so that research teams, research participants and organisations supporting people who take part in research can understand what good looks like.
These new hallmarks can be used in different ways depending on who you are – for example, if you’re a researcher you can use them to monitor participant experiences in a study.
Kate Greenwood, the HRA’s Senior Improvement Development Manager said: “We know from our work that people need to be able to trust research and researchers, value the purpose of a study and find it possible to take part. We hope that by showing research meets these hallmarks, we can make this more likely to happen.”
You can download the hallmarks and guidance on how to use them from our People-Centred Clinical Research webpage. They are available as an editable template for translated versions on request. We’ve also created an infographic, which makes it easy to see the hallmarks and their guiding principles in one place.
Please do share the resources widely, and we’d love to hear about how you’re using them! Let us know at communications@hra.nhs.uk.
First meeting of our clinical trials public involvement guidance working group
Our new public involvement guidance working group met for the first time this week (15 November). The group, which is made up of people who have experience with the design and conduct of clinical trials, has been set up to support our public involvement work on the new clinical trials regulations. They will review what we heard through our call for information, look at what resources are needed and produce a summary of recommended existing guidance.
We'll be keeping you updated as the work of the group progresses. In the meantime, if you have any queries please contact Jim Elliott, Public Involvement Specialist at public.involvement@hra.nhs.uk.
How NCVR has helped accelerate study set up
Recent NIHR data has shown that over the past 12 months, the National Contract Value Review (NCVR) process has seen research studies achieving study set-up milestones over 100 days quicker.
The NCVR is a standardised, national approach to costing for commercial contract research in the NHS.
Our Head of Co-ordination and Standardisation, Alastair Nicholson, has written a blog reflecting on the news. Read it on our website.
Improving information for research participants
There are two weeks to go before our new Quality Standards and Design and Review Principles become mandatory on 1 December 2023.
The Quality Standards and Design and Review Principles are to help improve the information given to people invited to take part in research, including clinical trials. They will be applied to all research applications submitted for review.
To help organisations prepare, we’ve created a list of frequently asked questions about how participant information will be checked and reviewed from 1 December onwards.
In other news...
- Our Chief Executive Matt Westmore attended the International Accrediting Organization of Clinical Research’s Industry Leaders Think Tank on 9 November in Liverpool. Matt gave the opening keynote, covering the role of the HRA and regulators in general in enabling innovative research. He also covered our work with the MHRA in the clinical trials space, and the status of updates to regulations. Kate Greenwood joined a panel focused on improving UK clinical research delivery.
- Our Deputy Director of Policy and Partnerships, Naho Yamazaki attended the Clinical Data Disclosure Europe event in Amsterdam on 11 November. Naho presented on transparency, trust in research, upcoming changes to regulatory requirements, and shared newly-collated and analysed data around transparency performance and the clinical trial registration audit.
- And today (17 November) our Head of Public Involvement Jane Oakley presents at the UK Clinical Research Collaboration Clinical Trials Unit Network directors bi-annual meeting. Jane will talk about the HRA’s plans and priorities around public involvement and to discuss involvement practice within CTU networks.
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