NHS R&D Support in the North West of England: Health R&D NoW

1. Margaret Boaden, Research Fellow Tim Twelvetree, R&D Manager Health R&D NoW, University of Salford NHS R&D Support in the North West of England:Health R&D NoW

2. Presentation format • Background – what/who is Health R&D NoW? • Health R&D NoW approach to supporting professionals and organisations new to research; • Results to date; and, • Lessons learned.

3. Background – what/who is Health R&D NoW? • Health R&D NoW – a collaboration between three universities in the North West of England: Salford, Lancaster and Liverpool; • Established in 2001; and, • Funded by Regional R&D Directorate to support new research and researchers.

4. Aims of Health R&D NoW • To develop research capability amongst those working in public health, primary care, health services, and clinical R&D, especially those currently under-represented in research; • To improve the quality and scope of R&D activity to meet the needs and priorities of the NHS; and, • To provide a coherent programme of R&D workshops within a high quality training environment.

5. Parallel streams of support offered by Health R&D NoW • Managing research projects funded through the Research and Development Fund (RDF); • Conferences, workshops and short courses; • Consultancy and advice; • Organisational development; • Support for research networks; • Targeted Learning Sets; • Public Health research; • E-Learning; and, • User involvement in research.

6. Consultancy and advice • One-to-one responsive advice on research and research methods, including: • statistics, health economics, qualitative methods, reviewing literature etc. • Research Management and Governance • research design • funding • project support.

7. Support for research networks • NW CVD R&D Network; • Cancer R&D Network; • NW Mental Health Network; • Primary Care RM&G Network; • Greater Manchester NHS R&D Alliance & Research Programmes; and, • Consultant Nurses & AHPs.

8. Public Health Research • Scoping Exercise: • regional database • mail-out, website • Link to competencies in public health; • Mapping capacity: • Observatory, public health networks, HEIs, Public Health Academic Network • Need to build research capacity;

9. Public Health Research • Considerable generic research training needs - public health focus given to current workshops; • Collaboration with Public Health Network Coordinators to coordinate with CPD; • Masters in Public Health; • Public Health Academic Network; and, • E-learning.

10. E-Learning • Pilot Distance Learning Course (Health Research Skills); • Model from CIREM; • March-October 2002, 18 participants, 12 modules; • Funded from Dept Health & Social Care North; and, • Evaluated - Chris Loughlan.

11. User Involvement in R&D • April 2000 - User Advisory Group formed; • 4 key themes from initial conferences: • breaking down barriers • contribution & avoiding tokenism • involvement at all stages, and • training for users. • Outcome of training workshops: • establish research awareness workshop • assertiveness & social interaction training

12. User Involvement in R&D • combined training session to raise consciousness & ensure researchers listen • hold training courses outside academic institutions. • Dedicated post created in autumn 2002 • 2003: Alter balance of membership • induction event November 2003 • 27 members of NWURAG (job shares) • new groups - communications group, confidence building group, ‘Top Tips’ group, PPI Patient Forums.

13. Organisational Support • Working with NHS organisations, to: • establish a R&D infrastructure • develop a strategy for R&D which supports service delivery and/or commissioning • implement a research management & governance (RM&G) system • support that RM&G system.

14. Organisational Support • Offered in parallel with training workshops and courses, to develop an organisational culture which supports ‘using’ & ‘doing’ research; • Working with ‘rural’ networks (CumbRen); and, • A pilot action learning set for NHS R&D Managers.

15. Learning Sets • Response to needs of NHS staff: • pilot NW NHS R&D Managers Action Learning Set • pilot Cardiac Rehabilitation Research Learning Set • Future learning sets.

16. What has worked? • Progress on RDF projects; • Workshops and courses – increasing attendance and productive utilisation of knowledge; • Continued requests for advice and support; • Research networks developing membership and focus; • Increasing national, regional & local profile; • Increasing prominence & importance of User Groups;

17. What has worked? • E-learning has a valuable role to play; • Opportunity to develop public health research; • Organisational development – PCTs increasing their capacity to support and host R&D (including R&D Strategy), becoming more self-sufficient; • Action/Research learning sets; and, • University collaborations can work!!

18. Barriers to progress • Lack of dedicated R&D support within PCTs; • Difficult for health professionals to protect time for research activity; • Tension between service pressures & the need for time for reflective practice; • Senior managers often lack awareness of the link between research & evidence based practice, therefore are not supportive to their staff;

19. Barriers to progress • Lack of support at end of project, e.g. • dissemination of new evidence • implementation of new evidence into practice • further development of staff • ‘De-skilling’ of R&D Support Unit staff; • Loss of regional funding and local knowledge, and, • Support for social care staff?

20. Lessons learned • Individuals and organisations new to research need long term support, not just training workshops; • To build sustainable research capability, commitment is needed from professionals and their organisations; • Responsive, tailored training and support is effective in meeting the needs of professionals and users in PCTs; • Scope activity to ensure feasibility of provision; and, • Evaluate activity to ensure it is meeting needs of individuals and organisations.

21. Vicki Bell, Secretary v.bell@lancaster.ac.uk Margaret Boaden, Research Fellow mboaden@aol.com Tim Twelvetree, R&D Manager t.twelvetree@salford.ac.uk