Big increase in research participation at NNUH

NNUH staff have been praised for their commitment to improving patient care following a big increase in the number of people taking part in research.

More than 4,600 people got involved in research at NNUH last year – an increase of more than 30% from the previous year.

The Trust is involved in almost 400 active research studies across a range of specialities and involving partners from Norwich Research Park, University of East Anglia, and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

The inaugural NNUH annual research report, which was compiled by the hospital’s research leads, shows that the Trust surpassed its target of recruiting 3,300 participants into research in 2018.

The Trust is looking to enhance its national and international reputation for research and to increase the number of clinical trials it is involved in to help find new innovations and treatments for patients and to improve care.

Erika Denton, NNUH Medical Director, said: “There is passion for research across the hospital and we know that being actively involved in research leads to better outcomes for our patients. Our staff have made huge strides in increasing the amount of research happening at NNUH over the last year but we know we have more to do to ensure research and clinical trials are an everyday part of the NHS. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to take part in research at the hospital.

The state-of-the-art NNUH-run Clinical Research Facility at the Quadram Institute opened last year and we continue to develop and strengthen our relationships with the UEA and throughout Norwich Research Park.”

The work of NNUH researchers was featured in more than 200 peer reviewed publications last year in areas such as biochemistry, cardiology, skin cancer, diabetes, ENT, gastroenterology, gynaecology, dementia, neonatal medicine, orthopaedics, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, radiology, respiratory, rheumatology and urology.

The hospital is the host of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network for Eastern.

For more information about research at NNUH, visit https://new.nnuh.nhs.uk/research-and-innovation/