Most of us recently observed a holiday… did you celebrate Memorial Day or International Clinical Trials Day, which was on May 21st.?
The National Institute for Health Research (NHS) in England celebrated this day by releasing results of a survey they conducted to coincide with International Clinical Trials Day.
This survey investigated the British public’s awareness of clinical research, and provides interesting information which may or may not be generalizable to other countries. Clinical research is increasingly conducted globally, and information in an international level may be helpful to other countries in some way.
For example, the information from this new survey is being used in England to guide policy to support clinical research, “To provide NHS Trusts with funding to employ research nurses, and cover the use of facilities (such as x-rays and scans) that are needed to carry out research… also manage the recruitment of NHS patients into high quality clinical research, and last year engaged more than half a million people into studies.”
The National Institute for Health Research – Clinical Research Network (NIHR CRN) Portfolio is a database of high-quality clinical research studies that are eligible for support from the NIHR Clinical Research Network in England . “The Constitution of NHS calls for it to do all it can to ensure that patients are made aware of research opportunities relevant to them.”
The results of the survey indicated that most people are not aware of the role clinical research can play and raises concerns that patients could be missing out on opportunities to take part in potentially beneficial clinical trials as a result.(marketwatch.com)
Some Interesting Facts:
• Only 21 % of people surveyed were aware that carrying out research is a key activity for the NHS, yet…
• 82 % of people surveyed said it is important for the NHS to offer opportunities to take part in healthcare research
• Less than 7 % of people surveyed said they would never take part in a clinical research study.
Dr. Jonathan Sheffield, Chief Executive of the National Institute for Health Research – Clinical Research Network said: ”We need to encourage patients to be more demanding of their doctors and NHS institutions when it comes to offering the chance to take part in research activity. We also need to do everything we can to encourage a research culture at all levels.”
About the Author
Sherry Reuter is President of Sherry Reuter & Associates, LLC, a consulting firm that focuses on the conduct of clinical trials, site selection, study startup, training, and patient recruitment and retention. Sherry may be contacted at sreuter@gwu.edu or 203.775.6031.
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