23.07.12
Newcastle-upon-Tyne tops NHS research league table
A new league table shows research activity is increasing across the NHS in England. Published by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network, the data highlights the number of studies undertaken by each individual trust and the number of patients recruited.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne topped the table this year with 404 studies; an increase of 83 on the previous year.
The table categorises trusts into organisations with similar characteristics, to enable more useful comparisons to be made. Care, mental health and ambulance trusts — traditionally areas of lower research activity — are amongst the top ten trusts that have achieved the largest per cent increase in the amount of research studies they undertake.
Developing a research-active culture can bring a host of benefits for patients, clinicians and the NHS, driving innovation, giving rise to better and more cost-effective treatments, and creating opportunities for staff development, the NIHR stated.
Dr Jonathan Sheffield, chief executive of the NIHR Clinical Research Network, said: “This year we’re able to report that 99% of NHS Trusts inEnglandwere involved in delivering research during 2011/12 and with their help we recruited almost 600,000 patients, which was a fantastic achievement.
“We know from recent polls that patients want to see the NHS do research, and they want the chance to get involved. The league table helps us recognise the research commitment of NHS staff throughoutEnglandand shows that clinical research is not just for the large teaching hospitals - it is absolutely core business for all NHS Trusts.”
Professor Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser at the Department of Health, said: “This data from the NIHR Clinical Research Network is encouraging and shows us that high quality research is happening but we need to keep pushing for research to have the profile it deserves with both doctors and their patients.”
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