November 2021 Newsletter

Date: 30 November 2021

Welcome to the Forum November 2021 Newsletter

Welcome to your November newsletter. You will have seen in the past two newsletters that we are recruiting a co-ordinator post following Kate Greenwood’s move to HRA (read more here) you still have time to apply – the deadline is Wednesday 1st December. The applications are coming in and we hope to make an appointment in the next few weeks.

Please consider putting yourself forward as a Course Trainer or Course Leader. For the Forum to maintain a range of courses we need members of the community to share their knowledge and skills. Trainers enjoy the training days, putting expertise back into the community, and it’s a really good professional development opportunity. There is lots of mentoring and support available, so you won’t be thrown in at the deep-end.

As we are all working to recover the research portfolio following the covid disruption while the NHS is under greater strain than ever before it was encouraging to see a very positive commitment to research in the recent budget. As decisions are made about priorities and support for the Recovery, Resilience and Growth programme we are making sure that the Forum community voice is heard with experienced Forum members on all relevant advisory and working groups. We will share information as we are able but be assured that the pressure on you and your colleagues is understood and appreciated by those who will be making decisions on delivering the resources needed.

Best Regards,

Maria Palmer
Director, NHS R&D Forum

Forum Coordinator Role

Apply by Monday 1st November.  The NHS R&D Forum is looking for a coordinator to support the activities of the Working Groups and membership.

Part-time / Secondment opportunity – Fixed term for 12 months in the first instance (0.3-0.6 WTE negotiable)

The NHS R&D Forum is seeking a part time, highly motivated, organised and proactive individual with experience of health or social care research management to join us as the Forum Coordinator.

This post is offered for 12 months in the first instance. The Coordinator will support the executive team, Chairs of Forum working groups and wider Forum membership in our activities.

Working for the NHS R&D Forum provides an excellent personal development opportunity to gain experience at a UK level. Mentoring and coaching will be provided by the Executive and Leadership community.

This role is offered as a secondment opportunity or on a consultancy basis. It is essential that if applying on a secondment basis, you have full support from your line manager in writing before applying.

If you are interested in applying but are having difficulty finalising your manager’s support please send an expression of interest by the 1st November and we will contact you to discuss your application further

For further information and to read the full job description, please click here.

Call for Trainers

The NHS R&D Forum is seeking applicants for Course Trainers to deliver the courses listed below. Please note that at the moment all courses are being run online, but we do hope to return to face to face training in the future, so applicants should be prepared to travel.

• Essential of NHS Research
• Local Capacity and Capability for Research
• Essentials of Research Sponsorship
• Regulatory Inspection Ready
• Archiving Masterclass

COURSE TRAINERS: A course trainer must fulfil the criteria below and be available to deliver the course at least once a year:

Have at least 2 years work experience in the subject area and be able to demonstrate excellent interpersonal, facilitation and training skills.
Are suitably experienced to be able to answer questions around the topic area and to recognise where their knowledge is limited that further information is required.
Are adept at understanding the different needs/perspective of trainees and the health and care research management landscape. This is particularly important as our courses are delivered to many different types of organisation and across the UK.
Are very team focussed and able to work well with others
Are professional and represent the NHS R&D Forum at all times

We are also looking for applicants for a Course Leader for the Practical Application of Monitoring in a Health and Care Setting training course.

COURSE LEADER(S): A course leader is expected to be:

• A subject matter expert with 2 -5 years proven experience in the subject area
• An excellent trainer and facilitator (see course trainer requirements)
• A team focussed leader
• Well connected and experienced in health research management, support and leadership

You will put together a reference group to develop the study materials and be responsible for the overall project management of the study development.

For more information and application forms, please contact allyson@rdforum.org.uk

Read more here

NHS R&D Forum Conference and Events 2022 and 2023

We have been carefully considering arrangements for conferences and events for 2022 and 2023, in light of the ongoing pressures on NHS staff, and volatile rates of COVID19.  We wanted to update you on our plans.

In 2022, we are planning an extended events programme, in place of a large conference next year. This will be a mixture of training days and hot topic symposia. We have listened to your feedback about long online conference days and also the appetite for large face-to-face events and travel at the moment and feel on balance this is the right thing to do with uncertainty on general COVID19 restrictions and local capacity still high.

We are tentatively planning to return to a face to face Conference in 2023 but will keep you updated on this – all options are open at this stage about what that will look like – please watch out for a request for your views on arrangements and content next year.

Full details of the 2022 events programme will be announced in December.

Covid Coffee Chats

Further to discussions in the most recent Covid Coffee Meeting, a decision has been taken to replace our (once every fortnight) “Covid Coffees”, with a monthly “R&D Manager Hive Mind Discussion”.  We will hold this discussion on the first Thursday of each month for 90 mins.

We will also use this opportunity to update the email circulation list for this group, so if you would like to be added to the circulation list, please reply to j.mckie@nhs.net.  These new meetings will be hosted by Brandy Coote from Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust & Jeannie McKie from Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust, and will start in the new year.

Read more here

Training Course Schedule – 2022

• AcoRD Practitioner
• Essentials of Research Sponsorship
• Archiving Masterclass
• Local Capacity and Capability for Research
• Regulatory Inspection Ready
• Essentials of NHS Research
• Clinical Investigations of Medical Devices

NIHR Updates

• NIHR Learn Insights
• Identification of Research within NHS Trust’s Mandatory Inductions
• Interactive Costing Tool (iCT) and the Study Resource Review: New Overview Launched on NIHRtv
• High numbers of research participants believe their contribution is valued by researchers
• NIHR funds community COVID-19 antiviral trial
• RECIST reporting cost attribution
• Associate Principal Investigator Scheme launches to more specialties
• Watch on demand: NIHR CRN Life Sciences Industry Event 2021

The NIHR CRN Non-commercial Portfolio Application service: Information for investigators and R&D offices

In order to improve the process for non-commercial studies to apply for NIHR CRN support and inclusion on the NIHR CRN Portfolio, a new Non-commercial Portfolio Application service has been built within the NIHR CRN’s Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS).

This new service allows investigators to apply earlier and receive an eligibility decision sooner in order to benefit from the full range of support that the CRN’s study support service offers. Through this service, investigators will supply a tailored set of data for review and if the study is deemed Eligible, the CPMS study record will be automatically populated, with no further requests for information. Data supplied will be visible across the CRN and the devolved administrations ensuring coordinated support across study sites. In time, all non-commercial health and care researchers will be able to apply directly to the NIHR CRN using the Non-commercial Portfolio Application service, regardless of discipline.

Read more here

New Open Access policy for NIHR funded researchers

The NIHR has today announced its new Open Access policy, requiring all peer-reviewed research articles arising from NIHR-funded research studies to be made immediately open access under an open licence.

In line with the Government’s commitment to Open Access, which “requires that research outputs funded by the UK government are freely available to the taxpayer who funds research” (R&D Roadmap), this new policy will allow evidence from NIHR funded research to be freely accessed and used across the health and social care system, empower patients and the public, and drive further innovation globally.

Read more here

Contacting the R&D Forum

As a reminder, should you need to contact the Forum the best way is via email which is info@rdforum.org.uk

The latest job vacancies displayed on our website.

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