The NIHR West Midlands Regional Research Delivery Network enables the health and care system to attract, optimise and deliver research across the region. It is one of 12 Regional Research Delivery Networks in England, working together as one organisation with joint leadership.
Hosted by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, the RDN's vision is for the UK to be a global leader in the delivery of high quality research that is inclusive, accessible, and improves health and care. Please contact them at wm.
Be Part of Research is a free service which makes it easy to find and take part in vital health and care research across the UK.
Simply tell us which health conditions you’re interested in. We’ll match you to suitable studies and send you information on how to take part.
To find out more about research please visit Be Part of Research. You can also find it in the Profile section of your NHS App.
From patients and public, to healthcare assistants, to nurses, doctors, pharmacists and allied healthcare professionals, we all have a role to play in research. After all, new drugs, new processes, new evidence would not exist without our role in research.
My name is Faiza Yahya and I work as a Primary Care Clinical Pharmacist for Dudley Integrated Health and Care Trust (DIHC) and Our Health Partnership (OHP). I started my primary care role working for DIHC over six years ago when it was Dudley CCG. It was always my ambition to work in primary care, although I have also worked in the hospital and community pharmacy sectors. My vision one day is to see all these sectors collaborate for better, seamless patient care.
On reflection, I would say I started seeing the initial impacts and rewards of research from our everyday practice through audits, service evaluations and quality improvements. I could see the fruits of these projects and how they improve patient care and patient safety. I was inspired by senior leaders who had a vision for quality improvement and better population health. I learnt to understand why we had methodical and rigorous structures to drive quality improvement projects forward.
The difference we could make was phenomenal. It awakened my passion to be involved in this and to be able to one day make a difference of my own. I did a lot of reflection on what skills I needed to improve and how I could get involved in this realm, particularly in primary care. I then sought out and started a Health Education England Clinical Academic Research Internship to develop my skills in research.
In terms of clinical trials and research involvement, we often think of commercial trials, industry or those trials based in the hospital sector. We seldom think of primary care research and in the past, we hadn’t really been exposed to it a great deal during our pharmacy undergraduate degrees. The dynamics of healthcare have changed over time and if we want to align with NHS long term plans and the integrated care systems models, we need to start thinking about patient care and research in the community.
I wanted to know more about this so I reached out to the NIHR RDN and asked the question, ‘how can I get involved? I want to be part of this’. I also reached out to experienced senior pharmacists in my teams who had an interest in driving research forward.
When the DaRE2THINK study was introduced to me, especially with the innovative design of using CPRD for pre-screening, I was very excited to be a part of it! Studies such as this have shown that clinical research is evolving, and non-medics and allied health professionals can and must be a key part of driving research projects forward. Although I am very keen on developing my personal skills, I really want to be able to make a significant contribution to healthcare and motivate others to also develop. Research often requires a collaborative team approach and to use the skills of different healthcare professionals can certainly strengthen research and create the environment where we can all learn from each other.
The DaRE2THINK trial was ideal for me as a pharmacist as the research was on the use of direct oral anticoagulants and I have been able to upskill and extend my scope of practice in the process. I would encourage all pharmacists and allied health care professionals to seek opportunities in research in clinical practice as we know that practices/populations who are engaged in research have better health outcomes.
Hello my name is Ella Thompson. I have been a Practice Manager in Dudley for the last 14 years and for the last four years I have also been working with the NIHR RDN West Midlands as their Practice Manager Research Champion (PMRC).
When I joined my current practice (The Ridgeway Surgery) in 2013 I was keen to engage them in research, alongside a newly recruited salaried GP. Between us we take sole ownership for research within the practice and both of us enjoy having a separate role from our usual primary care activity. As study involvement is well supported by the RDN team, it adds little to our workload and it is a positive experience to be involved with various important research studies. Many of our patients enjoy engaging with research projects; often it can lead to very positive feelings of self-worth for those involved who feel they are giving something back. It’s also viewed positively by the CQC.
So when the RDN advertised for a PMRC I applied, hoping I could maybe give something back and encourage Practice Management colleagues to also become research active. The RDN was keen to increase the engagement of GP practices with NIHR RDN Portfolio of research. The role required me to work alongside their team of GP Research Champions and with members of the RDN team to raise awareness of opportunities to participate in primary care research (especially research delivery in day-to-day practice).
The post was intended to facilitate strengthening of links between Practice Managers, GPs and the RDN primary care specialty delivery team, as well as with university-based primary care research teams. The requirement was to predominantly raise awareness of the Clinical Research Network’s High Level Objectives (HLOs) and support the Primary Care delivery team to achieve these.
I have found the role very rewarding and have successfully increased the amount of practices engaging in research in Dudley, I have also increased Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) involvement with the majority of Dudley practices now signed up to participate. I attend various meetings in order to help advise the RDN about the practicalities of rolling a study out within general practice.
I was won the Rising Star category at the CRN WM Awards two years ago, for which I am very grateful. The RDN team is a lovely group of people, very supportive and friendly and I have very much enjoyed being a small part of their world and helping in any way I can.
If you are interested in becoming involved with research but would like a one to one conversation about it first, to get a real feel for what is involved and if it is for you and your practice, please feel free to ring me on 01902 886501 or email ella.
