Get involved

Why is Research Important?

Clinical research is an important step in discovering whether new treatments and approaches to healthcare benefit patients. Evidence obtained through clinical research studies helps to advance knowledge and deliver better outcomes for patients. Through high quality research, we learn how to improve our care for patients in future.

Taking Part in Clinical Research

Many patients participate in research taking place at the hospital. Your care team may speak to you or provide you with information about studies taking place that you might be interested in. Taking part in research is entirely voluntary and your care will not be affected if you choose not to take part in a study.

If you are interested in finding out more information about getting involved in research, visit the National Institute for Health Research pages – https://bepartofresearch.nihr.ac.uk/

Patient and Public Involvement

It is extremely important to involve patients and members of the public when designing clinical research. This is because people with lived-experiences can often contribute expertise that researchers may not have, and provide a valuable different perspective. Patients and members of the public can help researchers to:

• Ensure the research question they are working on is relevant and important to those affected
• Assess how acceptable the research design is and ensure the study is sensitive to the needs and preferences of participants
• Review documents that will be provided to participants as part of the study and ensure the information is provided in a way that can be understood

Many of the studies taking place at the hospital have been developed with patient and public involvement (PPI).

If you are interested in getting involved with research you could:

Become a Public Research Champion

Public Research Champions (formerly known as Patient Research Ambassadors) are volunteers who work within the Trust. They get involved in a variety of work such as increasing research awareness and participating in media activities, using their expertise to suggest improvements to care pathways and communications and acting as the public voice, raising issues that are important to patients, carers and the public.

To find out more about being a Public Research Champion you can visit the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) website here or contact Anne Sykes by emailing: anne.sykes@nihr.ac.uk

Sign up to Getting Involved in Research! A newsletter for the Patients and the Public in the Eastern Region

The CRN produces a monthly newsletter, on the 3rd Monday of each month, for members of the public, patients and participants past and present who would like to find out more about being involved in research and any opportunities that arise.

To keep up to date on opportunities to be involve, you can join the mailing list by completing this short online form or by contacting one of the PPI Team by telephone: 01603 287472 or email:crn-eastern-ppi@nihr.ac.uk

Join Dementia Research

You may be interested in the ‘Join Dementia Research’ programme which is for people with or without dementia. Join Dementia Research is a national service that enables you to register your interest and be matched with suitable research studies. Dementia research is important. It can help people living with the condition now, as well as helping to prevent people from developing dementia in the future.

Anyone with or without dementia over the age of 18 can sign up, visit the website: www.joindementiaresearch.nihr.ac.uk