NHS trusts driving medical breakthroughs

Every NHS trust in the country is delivering ‘vital’ clinical research that is helping to drive medical breakthroughs, a league table has revealed.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) published the 2015/16 NIHR Research Activity League Table, highlighting the extent of NHS research taking place in England and the number of participants being recruited into NHS studies.

The table shows that 60 per cent of trusts across the country, including Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), increased the number of studies they were carrying out, with more than 600,000 people across England participating in NHS research last year.

Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust was named the country's best performing trust, topping the table for the fifth year running. The trust delivered 514 clinical research studies, involving more than 12,000 patients during the last year. This is a rise of 28 from the previous year’s 486 studies.

Elsewhere, Barts Health NHS Trust and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust jointly featured at the top of the league table for the biggest increase in studies from last year, with Barts Health increasing studies from 279 to 335, and Imperial College improving upon their total of 365 studies last year to 421 this year. Parts Health NHS Trust was also credited as the top performing trust for the highest number of commercial studies - sitting at 114.

Primary care research is also highlighted as part of the table, with Greater Manchester NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), achieving a remarkable 700 per cent increase in research activity from last years data.

Dr Jonathan Sheffield, NIHR Clinical Research Network, chief executive officer, said: “he league table results are a great achievement for all involved, and highlight the growing commitment to research from the NHS and patients.

“Special congratulations go to Newcastle NHS Foundation Trust for ensuring that research is consistently embedded as part of everyday patient care, and also to Barts Health NHS Trust and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust for the largest increase in research studies over the past year.”

Sir Leonard Fenwick, chief executive at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’re thrilled to be leading the way nationally in clinical research once again. As a Trust, we are committed to delivering the best possible care to patients by investing in research which can help improve the lives of people not just regionally, but also nationally and internationally.

“If it wasn’t for the continued hard work and dedication from our team of medical professionals we wouldn’t be able to achieve all that we do in the clinical research field. Special recognition also has to go to all of the patients across the region who give their time to enable us to carry out this important research. Without them, none of this would be possible.”