The Clinical Research Network West Midlands supports studies that are adopted on to the National Institute of Health Research Clinical Research Network (NIHR CRN) Portfolio. This consists of a national database of research studies that are high quality, independently peer reviewed, funded in national competition and asking relevant questions for the NHS. To qualify for inclusion onto the NIHR Portfolio, studies are required to fulfil specific criteria. Whether as a patient, nurse, GP, health care assistant or other health professional, you can rest assured that the portfolio studies that we offer have undergone a rigorous process to gain full ethical and research governance approval. In fact many of our studies are randomised controlled trials.

Our portfolio studies encompass a broad range of topics for which primary care has a particular responsibility. These include disease prevention, health promotion, screening and early diagnosis, as well as the management of long-term conditions. It also includes studies on vaccines and palliative care, as well as common illnesses such as sore throats, ear ache and influenza. Involvement in our studies requires differing levels of engagement.

This can range from face to face recruitment of patients during clinical consultations to more administrative tasks such as:

• conducting electronic searches of potentially eligible patients
• informing them of the study by mail but then delegating the research team to undertake the other study procedures.

Each study provides remuneration in the form of service support costs to cover staff time and involvement in research.

To search for studies recruiting in, or coming soon to your area, please browse Current Studies and Future Studies . The CRN West Midlands offers practices in each area access to a designated team, consisting of a research nurse, a research facilitator and a GP research champion, to offer advice and support. If you would like further details or have a particular clinical interest, please contact us. We will record this information and as more studies open in your area we will aim to match your interest.

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