At today's Westminster Health Forum keynote seminar, The future for health research in England - funding, regulation and next steps for policy, 13th March 2019, Lord Sharkey, Chair of the Association of Medical Research Charities, highlighted the strong commitment of the NHS, academia, and charities to health research in the UK. 

Dr Jonathan Sheffield, Chief Executive Officer, National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network, said that he is passionate about the fact that, "The way that we get disruptive innovation in healthcare is through research.”

The NIHR's mission is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research.  They achieve this through a variety of activities such as: funding, supporting and delivering high-quality research; engaging and involving patients and the pubic; attracting, training and supporting the best researchers; investing in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery workforce; and partnering with other public funders, charities, and industry. With these combined activities, the NIHR are working to create a health research system in which the NHS supports outstanding individuals working in world-class facilities, conducting leading-edge research with a focus on the needs of patients and the public. 

Teresa Allen, Chief Executive, Health Research Authority (HRA), highlighted in her presentation their commitment to transparency in all future research.  A strategy for the transparency of group research has recently been developed with a view to identifying the real barriers to compliance with transparency, and the building of confidence in health research. 

The HRA are working towards making sure that the guidance and advice available to research organisations is as easy as it can possibly be.  She went on to say that, with competition likely to increase, "We need the regulatory process in the UK to flow like water."  The HRA intend to offer an advisory service for innovative ideas to help organisations through the process.

Patient participation is invaluable to research.  As the public become more aware of and concerned with the security and safety of their personal data, addressing transparency and the use of data collected through research is increasingly a priority and patient transparency, is very much on the HRA transparency agenda. 

Deborah Gilbert, Chief Executive, Bowel & Cancer Research, highlighted that often it is patients and members of the public that donate to charities in the first instance to fund much needed research. She emphasised that, in a climate that is moving towards research that is done with patients or by patients themselves, it is vital that patient and public involvement works to engage people with science and research.  A patient involvement approach will make research better.

"Patients are a key stakeholder group and their lived experience of a condition is critical to building a piece of research that is going to be suitable for their needs.”

Deborah Gilbert, Chief Executive, Bowel & Cancer Research

On the role of patient participation, Dr Jonathan Sheffield described patient feedback to the NIHR from patients who partake in trials.  Patients are most upset by not being thanked properly for taking part, and often not being told the outcome of the research they took part in. This is significantly different from the retail industry approach, where customers are thanked for their participation and asked for feedback on their experience. 

Professor Anne Marie Rafferty, Professor of Nursing Policy, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, King's College London and President, Royal College of Nursing, suggested an opportunity to scale up the involvement of nurses and midwives in research, optimising their contribution by having them involved in every NIHR project.  

"The intelligence that nurses...have for delivering care should be utilised.”

Professor Anne Marie Rafferty

Professor Rafferty proposed the possibility of engineering research-type activities into the jobs of nurses, midwives, etc. Dr Jonathan Sheffield confirmed that the NIHR have recently recruited 70 nurse leaders in research, and the successful candidates will be announced soon.

Find out more about public involvement in research and NIRH INVOLVE here:

https://www.invo.org.uk/posttypefaq/what-is-public-involvement-in-research/

Post Contributor:

Caitriona Fitzsimons Digital Reporter