Promoting Clinical Research Activities and Opportunities Locally – From OK to Ask to Research Changed my Life
Mark Terry, Research Office, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust (m.terry@rbht.nhs.uk)
2013 has been notable for the strong momentum provided by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to NHS Trusts in our efforts to raise awareness of research activities to the public, and to promote research opportunities to patients. At Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust (RB&HFT) we have utilised this national focus on awareness and engagement, to actively promote patient/public involvement in the design of high quality research but also engagement with our research portfolio and wider opportunities available.
RB&HFT is a leading specialist centre for heart and lung research, with an international reputation for cutting-edge research and an identity which positions clinical research as integral to the core mission of the Trust. It should have come as a surprise that, following a local replication of the NIHR mystery shopper exercise , we faired only marginally better than the (very poor) national average for the availability of useful research information. However, prior to these results, it was recognised that we could do much more, and as a result of the NIHR spotlight, a Research Awareness Working Group (RAWG) was established to deliver an initial set of priority actions, followed by the development of sustainable, long-terms plans to ensure that patients/public are empowered with greater access to improved research information. As the group was getting going, NIHR launched the “OK to ask about clinical research” campaign, which focussed our attention upon ensuring that, should a patient or a member of the public feel empowered to ask, they would receive a structured, positive response every single time.
As such, RAWG identified that patient/public facing promotional materials would be required, and should be placed in high visibility areas of the hospital buildings, a staff training needs analysis would be needed to identify which staff groups (clinical and non-clinical) patients and the public pose questions about research to, and a wholesale revamp of the research pages on the corporate website and staff intranet would be needed to act as a current, accessible information source.
We have now implemented an initial action plan and are confident that patients/public will now be able to easily access useful information. Posters with the tagline “today’s research is tomorrow’s care” are present across the hospital buildings promoting our revised webpages and email and telephone contact details of who to discuss research activities and opportunities with, in addition to NIHR leaflets being available in all outpatients waiting rooms, reception areas and PALS. A research sign posting guide was also developed for staff use, outlining the top five places to whom an enquirer should be directed to for more information. This has been used as the basis for short training sessions with outpatient staff, receptionists, PALS officers and switchboard operators. It has also been printed and attached to all staff payslips to ensure blanket coverage, and inserted into Trust corporate inductions packs for new starters. The Research Nurse Forum members have been enlisted to further encourage use of the guide on the wards, and the junior doctor handbook amended to include the guide and emphasise the importance of research and the rights of patients to be given information about research opportunities available to them.
The crowning jewel of these efforts is the revised web pages, which direct visitors according to their needs (patients/public, researchers, and life science industry representatives). These pages contain a vast amount of information in a user-friendly and easily navigated format. All research studies currently open to recruitment are listed along with brief details and contact information. Increased appropriate participation in our research portfolio may result from these listings, but primarily this resource is acting as a unique and vital source of information for patients/public, and staff alike. Internally, a desk-top icon has been placed on every Trust computer (advertised through a research screensaver and email blast out) to enable staff to quickly identify whether the Trust does indeed have research opportunities that are potentially relevant to a particular patient.
We have now wound RAWG down, in favour of a new Research Information Group (RIG), aiming to capitalise on work already undertaken and to co-ordinate ongoing support to promote and raise awareness of research in the long-term. We aim to achieve this through regular updates of live initiatives, a more pro-active approach to publicising research successes and achievements as well as the development of benchmarks additional to the repeat of the local mystery shopper exercise to enable us to measure the impact of these initiatives. Which links in nicely with the new NIHR campaign: “Research changed my life”
Filed under: clinical research, clinical trial costs, clinical trials, NHS research, Ok to ask, Research changed my life Tagged: #NIHROktoask, clinical research, clinical trials, I4A, impact of public involvement in research, Involvement4Access, Mark Terry, National Institute for Health Research, NHS research, NHS research culture, NIHR, NIHR CRN, patient participation in clinical research, public awareness of research, Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust
