Thousands take part in Thames Valley NHS research

More than 59,000 participants took part in NHS research supported by the NIHR Clinical Research Network Thames Valley and South Midlands last year, new figures show.

They volunteered for studies in hospitals, mental health trusts and community settings such as GP practices in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire.

A total 59,592 participants took part in 732 studies supported by the network from April 2019 to March 2020.

• 1,474 participants took part in 46 studies at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
• 6,679 took part in 83 studies at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
• 4,803 took part in 53 studies at Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• 2,709 took part in 59 studies at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
• 26,289 took part in 507 studies at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• 8,353 took part in 102 studies at Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
• 5,619 took part in 40 studies in Thames Valley's community settings, such as GP practices

Last year, 732,176 volunteered for 6,052 studies supported by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) in England.

The NIHR CRN provides staff such as research nurses to help doctors and professors run studies in the NHS.

Studies that took place in 2019/20 in Thames Valley’s NHS included:

• A trial of a drug to treat leukaemia with fewer side effects than chemotherapy 
• Using virtual reality to treat psychosis
• Giving teenagers a meningitis B vaccine to prevent them from passing the infection onto others 
• Collecting blood samples from people with Lewy body dementia to understand the genetics of the condition

More than 5,300 participants are taking part in COVID-19 studies in Thames Valley, which can involve drug trials, blood tests and online surveys.

Prof Belinda Lennox, Clinical Director for the NIHR Clinical Research Network Thames Valley and South Midlands, said: “This year, as well as the monumental effort in delivering COVID19 research, which has seen over 100,000 people taking part in these studies nationally, we are also celebrating the recruitment to all other areas of medical research.  

“More than 59,000 people participated in these other research studies in our region last year, helping to improve healthcare for us all.” 

Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR Clinical Research Network, Dr William van’t Hoff, said: “I am delighted to see strong results of research delivery, reflecting the tremendous amount of work from many different staff based throughout our entire regional networks and in all healthcare settings. The NIHR CRN is truly showing its reach and opportunity to help researchers and patients across the whole country.”

Participating in health research helps develop new treatments, improve the NHS and save lives. The NHS supports research by asking patients and healthy volunteers if they wish to take part in trials to enable participants to access new NHS treatment and care options.

Learn more about research at www.bepartofresearch.uk.