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Work of the NHS R&D Forum

We want to see health & care improvement through quality research
rooted in our organisations and systems, enabled by an
effective and valued R&D workforce.

We work together as a community and through excellent relationships with partners and policy makers.

Leading our Practice

  • We drive solutions to new problems.
  • We set standards by producing good practice and sharing collective opinion.
  • We maintain a strategic watch on the research landscape
  • We communicate the strategic direction of travel to the wider community.
  • We work closely with partners on new and emerging areas of work that will advance practice and support research.

Shaping & Influencing

  • We regularly talk with policy makers at our group meetings, to help shape and influence.
  • We test ideas and suggestions for policy or work streams.
  • We produce consultation responses and opinion papers.
  • We share workforce issues and feedback to the community and to our partners.
  • We share the insights, priorities and needs of the workforce by gathering their views through community surveys.
  • We promote and advocate for research and the research community in health and care
  • We influence our own local organisations with intelligence from the wider community.

Helping each other

  • We support each other through the exchange of expertise and the sharing of knowledge.
  • We provide a curated online repository for exchange of tools, helpful links and resources.
  • We have a growing a professional learning and development programme that spans the breadth of roles and needs across the workforce.
  • We provide monthly updates with all current policy, regulatory updates and news from across the community.
  • We call for help and answers to questions from peers and policy makers.

Connecting and representing

  • We facilitate sharing and learning through a number of events, meetings, symposia, workshops, training courses and quarterly group meetings.
  • We connect members through social media and provide the biggest annual conference for the research management, support and leadership community for members across the UK.
  • We host an annual non-commercial Sponsorship symposium to support networking, learning and the sharing of practice across the non-commercial sector.
  • We gather and represent the collective views across our community
  • We provide the R&D contacts directory as a single place for maintaining accurate R&D contacts.
  • We enable links and discussions to take place between people through online forums and groups.

We Produce

Our 4 work themes

We have 4 work themes that influence all our activities.

To ensure health & care organisations & systems are enabled to embed research as core business through strategy, leadership & culture.

We want to see & will work towards:

  • Well-led health & care organisations and systems that are enabled to develop and deliver research
  • A thriving research culture across health & care systems that involves patients and the public.
  • Research activity embedded in health and care as core business
  • R&D well represented in strategic & policy health and care decision-making

To ensure health & care operational systems, processes and practice support well-managed quality research projects and outputs.

We want to see & will work towards: 

  • High quality, ethical & responsible research projects set up, delivered & reported efficiently and effectively across the UK
  • Confident and capable non-commercial Sponsors of quality research
  • Operational capacity & capability for health & care research, including workforce

Operational capacity & capability for health & care research, including workforce

To develop health care research management, support & leadership practice as a professional endeavour 

We want to see and will work towards

  • A well-trained, competent & informed workforce
  • A valued and recognised workforce
  • Evidence based research management, support & leadership practice
  • R&D departments as supported infrastructure

To develop our ability to better enable high value research that has an increased likelihood of an impact on health & care.

We want to see and will work towards:

  • A closer relationship between research, evidence and their impact on practice.
  • Less research waste
  • Improved capability for evidence informed practice

Download our Forum Reviews, produced annually to document our outputs and our impact:

Get Involved
Groups & Current Work

Get Involved

The R&D Forum is committed to connecting members & working together. Find out how to get involved.
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R&D Forum Groups
Groups & Current Work

R&D Forum Groups

Our groups are more to the value of the R&D Forum. Find out more about our active groups.
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R&D Function
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R&D Function

Find out more about the critical role a well developed R&D function plays in any organisation.
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