Yorkshire and Humber experiences another exceptional year of research participation

2022/23 was another memorable year for research participation in Yorkshire & Humber as over 115,000 people took part in health and care research.

115,903 people were recruited in the region to 1,124 portfolio studies, while 2,432 were recruited to commercial studies sponsored by the life sciences industry.

These studies were recruited at just over 2,700 sites across the region, with some of the highest recruiting sites including The University of Sheffield, Bradford Royal Infirmary, St James’ University Hospital, Leeds General Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital in Hull.

As well as these sites, 222 general practices recruited participants to health and care research studies last year. One school also recruited three participants to a study, and eight care homes recruited 24 across seven studies.

Success on a national scale

Almost 1 million participants took part in health and care research across the whole of England in 2022/23. This is the equivalent of recruiting over 100 people to health and care research studies, every hour, day and night, and is enough people to fill Wembley Stadium 10 and a half times!

Research participants were recruited across the country to nearly 5,000 portfolio studies and 1,757 commercial studies sponsored by the life sciences industry. 

Elaine’s research story

The Yorkshire and Humber region saw many Global and European first participants take part in a number of trials and studies. One of these was Elaine Walker, from Bradford, who took part in the TIDE trial, an asthma study that evaluated the safety of the drug Amlitelimab.

The study aimed to recruit around 420 participants from 15 countries, and the team at Bradford’s Patient Recruitment Centre hit their target of three patients in record time.

Elaine, a former nurse at Bradford Royal Infirmary, had already taken part in two clinical studies previously, and was more than happy to participate in a third.

“It’s only through these trials that we can find better drugs and treatments so I was keen to be involved as this could not just help me but others too. The NHS has always been here for me and so I wanted to give something back.” Elaine explains.

Elaine will be involved with the study for a year, making visits to the Patient Recruitment Centre every four weeks and keeping a diary each morning and evening recording her peak flow tests – measurements of how quickly you can blow air out of your lungs.

Amber O’Malley, Chief Operating Officer for the NIHR Clinical Research Network Yorkshire and Humber said:

“It’s absolutely amazing to see the fantastic participation levels across clinical research studies in the region this year. We couldn’t achieve all this without the efforts of our incredible staff and partners, who have worked tirelessly to ensure that we continue to provide life-changing research to improve peoples' lives across Yorkshire and Humber.  

We are very grateful to both them, and the many people in Yorkshire and Humber who continue to volunteer their time to make research happen.”