March 2022 Newsletter
Date: 1 April 2022
Welcome to the Forum March 2022 Newsletter
Welcome to your March newsletter. As we come to the end of the 21/22 Financial year and look forward to Spring and Summer we can be fairly confident that life in general, in the NHS and in R&D will be as unpredictable, busy and rewarding as ever. The Forum can’t help with life in general or the wider NHS, but we would ask you to spend a few minutes providing us with some information so that we can help you with aspects of the R&D load.
Firstly, please check that our Contact Directory listing for you is up to date. Many organisations, including HRA, use this to contact you about studies and if the information is incorrect this causes delays, additional work and could result in you not receiving important information.
Secondly, we have had a number of approaches to restart face-to-face courses and other events. While real life events have considerable benefits over virtual, we are not sure to what extent people are still reluctant to travel and attend indoor events and whether organisations will support attendance. Please let us know whether you think this is the time to restart face-to-face events and, if not, what criteria we should use to decide when the time is right.
Finally, and very importantly, please read the second letter from Louise Wood and Lucy Chappell on Actions to Address the Current Research Delivery Challenges in the NHS (link below). This is part of on-going work to recover and grow research activity in the NHS which the Forum is contributing to. Please let us know your thoughts as this work progresses. Although a number of potential unintended consequences have been identified, and are being worked on, we are very keen to hear how this is being perceived in the NHS and to avoid adverse effects on the relationships that have been built up over the years between NHS R&D and other stakeholders.
Please use info@rdforum.org.uk to respond.
Best Regards,
Maria Palmer
Director, NHS R&D Forum
** RED for Research day will return this year in the Summer. Watch out for further information over the next few weeks **
ACTION – To Address the Current Research Delivery Challenges in the NHS
Following the letter received in February, we have received a further letter from Prof Lucy Chappell, DHSC Chief Scientific Adviser and Dr Louise Wood Director of Science, Research and Evidence from National Institute for Health Research, updating us on revitalising the NHS Research Portfolio, starting with immediate effect.
We would encourage everyone to take a moment to read the latest letter in full.
Monthly Forum Working Group Update
My name is Allyson Bailey and I am the training lead for the NHS R&D Forum. I am also usually one of the R&D Officers for NHS Forth Valley, in Scotland, though at the moment I’m on secondment to the HRA.
I work with the help and advice of the Training Programme Oversight Group. We meet about 3 or 4 times a year, with virtual consultations in between if needed. Our remit is to develop the Forum’s training programme, decide on the priority subjects for developing new training (in consultation with the Executive Committee and the community), oversee the recruitment of new Course Leaders and review and sense-check new course materials. There is also a wider Training Group, made up of people with an interest in the training programme but who for one reason or another are unable to take an active role.
At the moment we have 3 courses in the pipeline, which we hope will be up and running before the end of the year:
Monitoring
Finance in the R&D office
Medical Devices
The group agreed that the next three to be developed should be:
Practical PPI
R&D office study management
Making sure your study works in the NHS
We welcome suggestions for new training subjects, as well as expressions of interest from anyone who would like to join either of the groups. We would also love to hear from anyone who would like to be a Course Leader or Trainer. Please feel free to contact me via email allyson@rdforum.org.uk
Return to In Person Training
As we are starting to come out of the pandemic and restrictions are easing, the R&D Forum are interested to know how are members are feeling and if you are ready to return to In Person training and events? We have put together a poll on the RDF website and would really appreciate a few seconds of your time, to receive your thoughts. Thank you so much.
R&D Forum HIVE MIND
The R&D Forum Hive Mind meetings take place on the first Thursday of each month for 60 minutes. We had great attendance for our first sessions of the year and the next meeting will take place on Thursday 7th April at 11am.
If you have not already registered to join these meeting, should you wish too, please contact Jeannie McKie (j.mckie@nhs.net) from Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust, and she will kindly add you to the circulation list.
Essentials of NHS Research
4th & 5th May
The updated material includes a whole new look package of essentials for anyone looking for a complete overview of NHS R&D management.
This is a two day course. The first day covers the overall research landscape and the legislation and regulations that govern it, as well as the various aspects of research management and governance. Day two concentrates more on the design, development and management of a research project, as well as looking at wider issues of leadership and strategy. The course is a mixture of traditional trainer presentation with interactive activities and discussions.
Book here
Regulatory Inspection Ready
9th May
This one-day course is aimed at those who deliver research in a healthcare setting either in a Sponsor team or as a Host, and that maybe subject to regulatory inspection. Preparation for Inspection is critical but compliance driven from preparation rather than from quality systems can lead to poor practice and Inspection findings.
Book here
Local Capacity and Capability for Research
30th May
A one-day course designed to provide an understanding of the requirements of an NHS organisation when determining whether to take part in a particular research study as a host. It explains the principles of good study set up, the information required by the R&D office and where it can be obtained. It introduces delegates to the various systems and documents associated with research and also provides some guidance on developing relationships with key support departments and stakeholders within an NHS organisation.
Book here
Archiving Masterclass
13th June
An excellent course providing expert insights in the practicalities of research archiving procedures.
End of study procedures are the domain of both the NHS and the Sponsor and so if you are a Named archivist or just need to understand more about how to firm up your procedures then you should consider this one-day event.
Essentials of Research Sponsorship
4th July
This course is designed to provide the essentials to become and/or improve the management of clinical research as a sponsor. A one day course that will provide an opportunity to develop skills and gain knowledge in the underlying principles of sponsorship. The course covers widely accepted concepts that not only directly apply to sponsorship but are transferable to other areas of the research industry.
RDF 2022 Events Schedule
To view what else we have planned for the rest of the year, please click below. Courses up to March are only available to book right now, but we will open the booking pages for April & May, events in due course.
R&D Contact Directory
The UK R&D Contacts directory is a valuable tool that provides the contact details of all R&D offices and non-commercial sponsors across the UK. In England this also includes the associated NIHR Clinical Research Network. By keeping all UK R&D contacts updated in one place we can provide current up to date listings when they are needed, however we do need your assistance, to make sure the details listed are current and correct. Please can we ask that you check your entry and if you find anything that is out of date, that you let us know by emailing info@rdforum.org.uk
Covid-19 COPI Notice Extended
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has made the decision to further extend the existing Control of Patient Information (COPI) notice until 30th June 2022. This was due to expire at the end of March 2022.
The purpose of this notice is to allow health and care services and government bodies to process confidential patient information, to support the Secretary of State’s response to COVID-19, for research and planning purposes.
Please note for Wales this has been extended until the 30th September, 2022. To read more click here.
Suggested Articles to Read
- Smoothing the way to confidentiality support
- Transparency – nice to have or a legal requirement?
- Take part in a Research & Innovation Workforce Survey
NIHR Updates
- Find out more about the NIHR Primary Care Programme
- CRN Primary Care Research Informatics & Digital Environment Solutions (PRIDES) website
- Launch of NHS Digital Population Health Platform for PANORAMIC
- NIHR Learn Insights; CPD resource
- New NIHR Evidence collection – Care and decision-making in pregnancy: research reveals the support women need
- CPMS Release 5 goes live
- International Women’s Day 2022. Be sure to read the Blog post from Mirae Harford & Blog post from Professor Lucy Chappell
- CCG Excess Treatment Cost update
- NIHR unites with health and social care leaders to improve public involvement in research
- New research to improve social support for people with brain injuries
- NIHR launches domestic and global health calls towards delivering sustainable health and care systems
- Recovery Trail shows baricitinib reduces deaths in COVID-19 hospitalised patients
- New funding boost for delivery of early stage clinical research across England
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
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