Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to set out a framework to guide the prioritisation of NIHR CRN NWC research activities and to meet the needs of the CRN NWC Strategy.  The term ‘NIHR research’ refers to research either funded or supported by NIHR in healthcare, social care, and public health settings.  The framework sets out guiding principles, study prioritisation, and local and national roles in implementing this ‘Portfolio Management Framework.’

The key aims of the framework are to guide:

1. The alignment of resources in the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) and NIHR infrastructure to support the CRN NWC Strategy (e.g., additional support of ARDT, pharmacy, radiology, primary/social care support)

2. The commencement of ‘new’ NIHR research, and the support of faltering studies due to changes in clinical pathways, difficulty recruiting due to wrong patient identification site etc.

Guiding principles

The following principles have guided the content of the Portfolio Management Framework:

1. The framework is intended to support the CRN NWC in portfolio management activities. It is recognised that guidance will need to be reviewed and refreshed, for example, in the context of learnt experience of restart progress and changes in COVID-19 activity.

2. The framework is also intended to enable strong local leadership and decision-making in pursuance of proportionate and pragmatic arrangements.

3. The priority is to support an open and flourishing clinical research system whilst recognising the impact of COVID-19, and the complexity of ensuring balance in terms of health burden, setting (primary/secondary/tertiary/social care/LA), geography, study design (interventional/observational/digital), commercial/non-commercial, and rare diseases/common diseases.

4. Achieving an optimal balance of research delivery is a higher priority than attaining all the traditional metrics of research performance.

5. Patients and the public can play vital roles at both local and national level in supporting restart activities.

6. There is likely to be variable and rapidly changing levels of research capacity in differing geographical regions, sites, and departments.

7. The framework also recognises variability in the capacity in universities to support clinical research processes (e.g., sponsor roles, laboratory facilities), emphasising the importance of close working with partner NHS trusts.

8. The NIHR is well-placed to provide guidance, support, communication, liaison with taskforces (e.g., vaccines, therapeutics) and collaboration at local and national levels.

Prioritisation - Network Level

Further guidance on the managed recovery of the UK clinical research portfolio can be found here

CRN NWC Taskforce Guiding Principles