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Performance in initiating and delivering research

We produce returns for the NIHR detailing two key areas of research performance:

• Initiating clinical research: information on the days elapsing between obtaining a Valid Research Application and recruitment of the first patient to a clinical trials for every interventional clinical trial for which it gave NHS permission in the specified time frame.
• Delivering clinical research: information on recruitment of target number of patients within the time limit agreed with the sponsor for every commercial contract interventional clinical trial hosted by the NHS provider in the specified time frame.

Please see the link below for details of studies where performance has been measured in these areas:

Recent performance submissions by the Trust

Why do we publish research performance? »

The government wishes to see a dramatic and sustained improvement in initiation and delivery of clinical trials. For this reason, the Government's Plan for Growth, published in March 2011, announced a change to incentives for providers of NHS services for efficiency in initiating and delivering clinical research. The aim is to increase the number of patients who have the opportunity to participate in research and to enhance the nation's attractiveness as a host for research.

Providers of NHS services holding NIHR contracts are now required to publish details of their organisation's research performance. This shows a commitment to making performance transparent and accountable, routinely enabling comparisons of research sites with one another, and against international benchmarks (including an initial benchmark of 70 days or less from the time a provider of NHS services receives a valid research application to the time when that provider recruits the first patient for that study). The types of clinical trials which need to be reported fall under the following categories:

• Clinical trial of an investigational medicinal product
• Clinical investigation or other study of a medicinal device
• Combined trial of an investigational medicinal product and an investigational medical device
• Other clinical trial to study a novel intervention or randomised clinical trial to compare interventions in clinical practice

Publication of research studies that do not involve a medical intervention is not required.