CRN Greater Manchester with Stockport: A collaborative adventure over the years!

NIHR CRN Greater Manchester is set to transition into the North West Regional Research Delivery Network later in 2024. Now has been a very apt time to stop and reflect on my last eight years in the Greater Manchester research family.

I joined Stockport NHS Foundation Trust in 2016 as their Research and Innovation Manager. I came from the comfort of a specialised, highly research-active Trust in the Greater Manchester patch. What a shock coming into an acute hospital setting! I was used to super specialised research teams, focussing on one disease type or business area. Research in a district general was the complete opposite! My new role wore the multi-tassled hat of governance, finances, delivery, quality and so much more across so many different research projects and specialities. The hyperventilation started!

However, I quickly realised I was not on my own. The support started and continues with our linked CRN Greater Manchester Research Delivery Manager helping with study portfolio growth and staffing restructures to optimise our workforce in the best way for our patients. Demystification of the research finance flows came next. I was used to study budgets and invoicing but the multiple NIHR funding channels was a maze. The CRN Greater Manchester finance team patiently built up my knowledge around the nuances of this complex system. I have now been able to share that knowledge to develop the next generation of Research and Innovation staff. The list goes on with CRN Greater Manchester collaboration to expand our offer of research training locally, help with acquiring our physical Research and Innovation department on the Trust footprint and showcasing our Trust to industry partners to help build our commercial study portfolio.

Finishing this reflection, it is only fitting to end on the massive successes of vaccine delivery at our Trust. The integration of the CRN Greater Manchester direct delivery staff with our local Stockport team, meant game-changing, large-scale studies were accessible to our population, ultimately what we are about in clinical research. Thousands of participants have benefited from this one Greater Manchester-wide team approach, leading to studies being delivered that have shaped our national vaccination programmes.

My Stockport journey can only be described as a seamless fit within CRN Greater Manchester. The last eight-year ride has been fabulous and I can’t wait to see what we achieve across the new, mighty North-West patch!

Wiesia Woodyatt

Head of Research and Innovation

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust