03 September 2013
University Hospitals Bristol appointed as the local branch of the NIHR Clinical Research Network
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UH Bristol)
is one of just 15 NHS trusts or foundation trusts in England to be
appointed to run a local branch of the National Institute for
Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network, it was announced
today.
The NIHR Clinical Research Network is the clinical research
delivery arm of the NHS. It provides funding to hospitals and
surgeries to pay for research nurses, scans, x-rays and other costs
associated with carrying out clinical research in the
NHS.
The Network helps to increase the opportunities for the region's
patients to take part in clinical research, ensures that studies
are carried out efficiently, and supports the Government's Strategy
for UK Life Sciences by helping companies to carry out vital
clinical research into potential life-saving new treatments and
improved ways to diagnose illnesses in the NHS.
Since April, the NIHR Clinical Research Network has been
carrying out a rigorous selection process to identify the NHS
trusts and foundation trusts to run its 15 local branches across
England. The process was open to all NHS trusts and
foundation trusts in the region.
As the chosen trust for the West of England, UH Bristol will be
awarded a five year contract from the Department of Health through
the NIHR, and will take responsibility for distributing
approximately £15million of funding per year, to support clinical
research across the whole area.
Commenting on the appointment, Professor David Wynick, Director
of Research at UH Bristol, said: "We know that research today will
provide more effective treatments for patients tomorrow, which is
why it is so important for organisations such as ours to focus on
research and encourage staff to get involved. Here at UH Bristol we
have approximately 380 trials and 600 research studies open which
offers our patients the very best and cutting-edge clinical care as
well as the opportunity to take part in a trial."
Robert Woolley, Chief Executive of UH Bristol, said: "This is
the second boost for researchers in our area within a month. In
August it was announced that UH Bristol would host an NIHR
Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care
(CLAHRC). The team in the West of England, known as CLAHRC West,
was awarded £9 million. I am delighted that today's announcement
gives us a further opportunity to ensure research is at the
forefront of our work as an NHS foundation trust, and the work of
other hospitals and surgeries in the area."
The Chair of the selection panel, Dr Jonathan Sheffield, Chief
Executive of the NIHR Clinical Research Network, said: "The host
organisations are our local administrative branches - but they are
so much more than that. They will help to set the level of ambition
for clinical research delivery locally, and assist us in making
sure that clinical research occupies the place it deserves in the
day-to-day work of the NHS. We were extremely impressed with the
commitment shown by UH Bristol during the selection process, and I
very much look forward to working with them to increase the
opportunities for patients to participate in research, and develop
the treatments of the future."
Clinical research provides evidence about "what works" and on
how the NHS can best use its resources to provide better treatments
for NHS patients across all areas of medicine. The promotion,
conduct and use of clinical research is included in the NHS
Constitution, which pledges that patients will be informed of
research studies in which they may be eligible to participate.
Last year, more than 630,000 patients took part in clinical
research studies supported by the NIHR Clinical Research
Network.
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