At both Warrington and Halton Hospital sites we participate in studies to promote medical research and improve care in the future for certain conditions.
These studies can be large studies that often involve many patients in many different hospitals.
Our Research and Development (R&D) Department works closely with the clinical divisions within the hospitals to ensure we can offer patients the opportunity to participate in high quality research that has been approved by an independent ethical body.
The Trust recognises that participation in clinical research demonstrates our commitment to improving the quality of care we offer both by helping ensure our clinical staff stay abreast of the latest possible treatment options and because active participation in research leads to successful patient outcomes.
The department is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research and takes part in nationally funded studies, patient stories on these can be found here.
Halton Hospital has its own dedicated research and clinical trials facility which supports our research ambitions and aims to widen participation in research across Warrington, Halton and surrounding areas.
More information on Halton Clinical Research Unit (HCRU) can be found here.
If you are a patient with us, you may be asked by a consultant or approached by a research nurse/midwife to see if you would like to take part in a study or you may receive an invitation in the post. Some research studies just involve surveys and interviews, others may look at the effect of drugs and treatments.
You can be reassured that all research will first have been approved by an ethical committee which is independent from the hospital. Taking part is voluntary and you may change your mind at any time.
If you are invited to take part in a research study, you will be given a patient information leaflet that is specific to that study.
We are supported by the North West Coast Local Research Network which is part of the NHS National Institute for Health Research.
They have produced a booklet aimed specifically at people who wish to understand more about participating in health research, called understanding clinical trials.
You can find pages with information on some of the studies we are involved with below:
Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s clinical trial performance is measured against national benchmarks to improve the initiation and delivery of all clinical trials approved by the trust.
The aim is to increase the number of patients who have the opportunity to participate in research and to play our role enhance the nation’s attractiveness as a host for research.
The National Institute for Health, has obligated the trust to report on the performance of clinical trials, providing information on the duration from the receipt of valid research application to the recruitment of first patient against 70-day benchmark and recruitment to time and target. These details may be found in the tables below.
If you are interested in looking for funding streams you can find out about current National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) research opportunities by following the links below.
These websites provide you with opportunities within the UK for funding and provide information regarding areas which are currently looking for applications.
Visit NIHR: Current Funding Opportunities
Furthermore, the Research Design Service (RDS) is a service funded by theNIHR to provide support to researchers across the UK, in terms of design and methodology, when developing grant applications to the NIHR or any other national peer review programs that may be available.
The advice and support from RDS is confidential and free of charge.
For More information about RDS support please follow this link.