News

Vacancy: Information Assistant

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join a highly motivated and innovative team at the NIHR Clinical Research Network’s National Coordinating Centre as Information Assistant.

As an Information Assistant you will work closely with the Data Steward to ensure that our data is accurate, reliable and fit for purpose. This will involve maintaining data quality checks, cleaning data and investigating discrepancies. An important part of the role is talking to the staff who enter the data, the analysts who use the data and the people who use the reports and dashboards that the Business Intelligence team produce.

University of Leeds Grade 5 (£23,487 to £27,116 p.a.) This is a full-time role and is fixed term for 14 months.

Closing date: Tuesday 5 October

You can find out more details by visiting the University of Leeds jobs website

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: Benjamin Fox
Email: b.j.fox@leeds.ac.uk

Changes to how we classify COVID-19 and Urgent Public Health studies on CPMS and ODP

Urgent Public Health studies will no longer be relevant to COVID-19 in ODP dashboards. There will be changes made to some COVID-19 and Urgent Public Health fields, details to follow.

At the end of May 2021, all COVID-19 studies on the NIHR CRN portfolio will be delivered and supported by the CRN following business as usual processes. A new group, the COVID-19 Understanding and Elimination - Trials Implementation Panel (CUE-TIP), will manage and oversee the delivery of all COVID-19 studies. The dashboards in the Open Data Platform (odp.nihr.ac.uk) will change to support the delivery of all COVID-19 studies.

Specifically, the COVID-19 Research Activity dashboard will show all COVID-19 studies. There will also be a filter available to only show previously Urgent Public Health badged studies.

Moreover, in CPMS, the Urgent Public Health Research radio button will no longer be used to identify studies that were previously badged as Urgent Public Health Research. Agreed study notes in CPMS will be used to identify studies that were previously badged as Urgent Public Health Research. We will also use study notes in CPMS to continue to identify new COVID-19 studies.

If you would like to get in contact, please email odp@nihr.ac.uk.

Upcoming changes to the method of calculating recruitment to time and target for open studies and sites

In early 2020 the CRN Research Delivery Steering Group approved a change to the calculation methodology of open recruitment to time and target (RTT). The implementation of this change was delayed due to the pandemic, but changes are being implemented in our data from Monday and will be reflected in the appropriate dashboards in the Open Data Platform (ODP) from Tuesday.

The change is to use a division method rather than a subtraction method to determine a study or site’s performance against target throughout its recruitment period. This change should help to provide an earlier indication of when studies or sites are falling behind their expected recruitment levels.

The new calculation methodology is:

% Recruitment to Target / % Time Elapsed* - 1 **

Replacing the old calculation methodology :

% Recruitment to Target - % Time Elapsed

Example:

A study has recruited 25% of its target, with 50% of its time elapsed.

Old methodology:

% Open Recruitment to Time and Target= 25% - 50%

% Open Recruitment to Time and Target = -25% (Amber)

New methodology:

% Open Recruitment to Time and Target = 25% / 50% - 1

% Open Recruitment to Time and Target = 50% - 1

% Open Recruitment to Time and Target = -50% (Red)

This methodology change results in a greater number of open studies and sites being RAG rated as red, and being identified as such at an earlier stage. This should mean that earlier interventions can be made before it becomes too late to make any improvement.

If you have any questions about the change then please contact the team at inforequest@nihr.ac.uk

* For sites the study level percentage time elapsed is used ** -1 is used to convert the resulting percentage into a comparison to 100% of expected target

New 2020/21 CRN Performance Standards dashboard in ODP

To support the measurement of the 2020/21 CRN Performance Standards (formerly High Level Objectives) we've developed a dashboard in the Open Data Platform (ODP).

Each objective's sheet * contains a breakdown of performance data to give further insight, as well as some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

To access, go to https://odp.nihr.ac.uk and find the dashboard called 2020-21 CRN Performance Standards.

Development of the dashboard is still progressing but as with all our dashboard development we welcome feedback from users. Please use the 'Provide Feedback' button in the dashboard or email us at odp@nihr.ac.uk.

We'll share information about future developments in our News updates.

* The dashboard is currently being developed to include information relating to the Restart objective, and information will be added later for the Participant Experience objective.

Updates to the COVID-19 Impact on CRN Portfolio dashboard

As we continue to develop and evolve this dashboard we'll post regular updates about changes. Below are the latest features that we've released and any other updates:

a new Specialty sheet has been added which allows users to compare a selected specialty's study status data to the overall CRN portfolio. A report can be generated from this sheet.
in the Study Site RESTART sheet a new chart showing the % split of specialty (and subspecialty, when specialty selected) has been added. This is available as an alternative view to the LCRN / Partner chart.
our schedule of updating Study Site data has changed and we will routinely update by Wednesday morning. Our most recent update today includes data from Scotland for the first time.

Any feedback on recent changes made or other dashboard content can be submitted using the in-app feedback button.

Information Analyst Job Opportunity - 6 July 2020

Could you use your analytical skills to drive improvements in clinical research?

Do you want to want to join an award winning Business Intelligence Team?

Would you like to use data to help remove barriers to access research nationwide?

We are seeking a new colleague to help us develop better tools, to make better use of external datasets (particularly NHS Digital, Office for National Statistics & Public Health England), and to provide a better service to our wide range of stakeholders. The successful person will be part of a significant improvement and transformation programme.

We are particularly interested in people with experience of working with national health datasets and/or with extensive experience of commercial business intelligence tools such as QlikView, QlikSense, Microsoft Power BI or Tableau.

We’re a small, friendly team. We try to work in an agile, non-hierarchical way which helps us to deliver lots of interesting analysis together. We’re passionate about providing tools that help us to improve the delivery of research. And we’re always looking for ways to improve what we do. So, if you are creative and want to make a real difference, we’d love to hear from you.

Go to https://jobs.leeds.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=MHNCC1234 for more information and to apply online. Closing date Monday 20 July.

Upgrade to ODP, allowing better dashboards and user experience - 29 June 2020

Advanced notice of some upgrade work on ODP, with some small changes that you may notice on Tuesday 30 June.

The upgrade will expand our capacity, so more users can use ODP at the same time. It also allows us to use the next-generation version of the software behind ODP, called Qlik Sense. Over the next few months we'll be building and testing new dashboards using this software, which should improve the appearance and usability of ODP.

The changes on 30 June will be largely behind the scenes, but please be aware of the following:

You will still log in with your normal user name, but on the main page of ODP it will now appear as e.g. crn\james.brown@nihr.ac.uk
Your list of favourite dashboards may have reset. You can just add them again.
The number of dashboards on the main page of ODP may reset to 12. You can simply change this to 20 / 50 / All using the drop-down box on the main page.
After this upgrade, the next time you open a dashboard it won't remember your selections or the tab you were in last time you logged in. However, after this, it will start to remember things as normal.

User-created objects (charts or bookmarks you've created yourself)

We will update these so that they're linked to your new user name in the background. You should see no difference, but please let us know if you notice anything missing.
We are now limited to around 500 people who can create their own objects. This is about the same number of people who have created their own objects in the past.
If you notice that you're no longer able to create your own objects, please contact us or your local BI contact and we can give you "create" access. Objects previously created will still be visible and usable. You can also view other users' objects and add a linked copy of them to your dashboard.

If you have any further questions, concerns or comments please email ODP@nihr.ac.uk.

New functionality in COVID-19 Cases and Deaths page in ODP

We have added further functionality to the Cases and Deaths page within the COVID-19 Research Activity dashboard in ODP to enable users to look at changes over time for COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Features on the Cases and Deaths page:

Compare maps of research activity to COVID-19 cases or deaths.
COVID-19 statistics can be weighted by the population in the Upper Tier Local Authority.
COVID-19 statistics can be restricted to view different time frames such as one day, latest week or previous week.
All of these measures are shown in the table and map. The change between the latest week and the previous week is also shown in the table.
The daily number of cases over time shown on a chart can be filtered by Upper Tier Local Authority, region or time frame.
Deaths can be filtered by place of death as well as Upper Tier Local Authority, region or time frame.

To access this, please login to https://odp.nihr.ac.uk/ and open the COVID-19 Research Activity dashboard.

If you are already logged in, you can use this direct link.

We are keen for feedback on how we can improve this dashboard. Please click on the Provide Feedback button in the dashboard, or email ODP@nihr.ac.uk.

COVID-19 Admissions Data in ODP - 18/05/2020

The COVID-19 Research Activity dashboard in ODP now includes data on admissions of COVID-19 patients in England. These estimated admissions figures are obtained by NHS England and Improvement on a daily basis. The ODP dashboard will refresh daily at around 4pm with the data from the previous day.

There are two new tabs that show different views on this data. The Admissions tab shows total admissions over time, which helps you to see the relative change in demand on NHS and research services.

The Patients tab shows the latest intelligence on the hospitals that currently have COVID-19 patients. It also shows how many of those patients are on ventilation. This should help you with your resource planning and decision making around where new study sites could be opened or accelerated.

For more information about this dashboard or anything else in ODP, please contact odp@nihr.ac.uk.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The admissions data has been provided to us for internal NIHR planning. It is not to be downloaded and used externally without permission. If this was to happen there is a risk we would have to remove or restrict access to the data. If you have any questions about how it can be used, please contact Stephen Lock, Interim CITO (stephen.lock@nihr.ac.uk).

New COVID-19 Setup Times dashboard in ODP - 8/05/2020

We have created a new dashboard in ODP to monitor and report on site setup times for COVID-19 Urgent Public Health research. This will allow us to demonstrate how quickly we are responding to the need to set up these studies.

As well as containing an overview of how quickly study sites are setting up in these studies it has been designed to provide focused data to help our local network colleagues to monitor where information has not been provided. This will ensure that any external messages we provide about expedited study setup are based on robust data.

In the coming weeks the dashboard will be enhanced and extended to cover timelines from the initial application stage of studies, through study and site approval, to first participant recruited.

To access this page, please go to https://odp.nihr.ac.uk/ and open the COVID-19 Setup Times dashboard.

We're keen for feedback on how we can improve this dashboard. Please click on the Provide Feedback button in the dashboard, or email ODP@nihr.ac.uk.

New COVID-19 Cases and Deaths maps in ODP - 4/05/2020

We have created a Cases and Deaths page in the COVID-19 Research Activity dashboard in ODP to enable users to compare research activity to COVID-19 cases and deaths.

On this page, there are the following features:

- Show research activity for a selection of studies of your choice on a map

- Compare the research activity map to COVID-19 cases or deaths on an adjacent map

- The COVID-19 cases or deaths statistics can also be shown as a weighted statistic per 100,000 population

To access this page, please go to https://odp.nihr.ac.uk/ and open the COVID-19 Research Activity dashboard.

We're keen for feedback on how we can improve this dashboard. Please click on the Provide Feedback button in the dashboard, or email ODP@nihr.ac.uk.

New COVID-19 Impact on CRN Portfolio dashboard on ODP - 1/05/2020

The BI Team has pulled together a new dashboard based on the information provided by study teams and commercial sponsors highlighting the impact COVID-19 has had on the studies that are currently active on the CRN Portfolio.

The dashboard will in the first instance be available to anyone with access to the commercial reporting (CC staff, senior staff in LCRNs, IOMs etc), and details the status for all Open and In Setup studies. The dashboard will help to inform us about the current status regarding recruitment for all studies and is broken down in a number of ways. eg. specialty, lead LCRN and research category. Further selections can be made using the drop down options included within the tables.

In relation to this, we hope that we can start to update the data collected so far with a view to being able to track how we are doing in terms of re-opening recruitment into studies in the coming months. Please look out for separate comms about updating the data already provided.

To access, go to https://odp.nihr.ac.uk and find the dashboard called COVID-19 Impact on CRN Portfolio.

New COVID-19 Research Activity dashboard on ODP - 17/04/2020

You can use this new dashboard to view information about DHSC-prioritised COVID-19 studies that NIHR CRN is supporting. You can find information about each study, such as where it's sites are and how many people have been recruited. You can also look at the geographic spread of research activity using the in-built maps.

Most of the information in this dashboard comes from study teams via CPMS and we're working towards study teams uploading at least weekly.

We also have two pages of "Latest Intelligence" on DHSC-prioritised COVID-19 research activity. Here you can see the very latest study-level recruitment figures, which are collected from study teams by midday every day. This provides close to real time information on recruitment levels, while the speed of the regular CPMS recruitment uploads continues to improve.

Please bear this in mind when using the dashboard and take care to read the notes and date stamps, to avoid any confusion.

To access, go to https://odp.nihr.ac.uk and find the dashboard called COVID-19 Research Activity. It's a good idea to click on the star next to the dashboard to add it to your favourites.

We're keen for feedback on how we can improve this dashboard. Please click on the Provide Feedback button in the dashboard, or email ODP@nihr.ac.uk.

Portfolio ODP to be decommissioned at end of March - 12/03/2020

Following on from our communications in October 2019 when All Portfolio was released, and subsequent contact with our user community who created custom content on Portfolio ODP, we are now in a position to decommission this dashboard and plan to do so on 31 March 2020.

We'll add more prominent notifications to the dashboard to make it clear to users that it will be closed down, directing them to All Portfolio or other relevant dashboards.

If you have any concerns about loss of custom content and have not yet been contacted directly by our team or have not yet taken action then please contact us urgently via ODP@nihr.ac.uk. We will not be able to transfer any user objects once the dashboard has been retired.

New Find a Site tab in Public ODP - 21/02/2020

We have created a Find a Site map in Public ODP where you can search for potential research sites to add to your study.

Features include:

A map of where CRN research activity has taken place
4 Site Type Groups are plotted and are identified by different icons
Hover on a site to show further details (number of studies and participants)
Show all sites or sites that have previously recruited
Filter by LCRN or CCG region, Site Types, Recruitment Year
Filter on care homes identified by the ENRICH network

To access Public ODP, go to https://public-odp.nihr.ac.uk no login required.

We're keen for feedback on how we can improve this dashboard. Please click on the Provide Feedback button in the dashboard, or email ODP@nihr.ac.uk.

New Performance Monitoring dashboard available on Open Data Platform (ODP) - 3 Feb 2020

We're excited to launch a new dashboard designed to help manage and monitor recruitment to time and target (RTT). It's aimed at CRN and LCRN research delivery staff and has been developed in consultation with them. It will replace the Commercial Reporting dashboard and also the non-commercial RTT tabs in Portfolio ODP by the end of March.

Here are some of the key benefits and new features:

Commercial and non-commercial RTT in one place
Site-level non-commercial RTT reporting enabled (supporting National Improvement Project Work Stream 3 consultation)
Switch to include/exclude confirmed research activity in RTT ratings
Browse studies according to the date of last review
Filter on studies where you're Performance Review Lead
Maps of site-level performance
New design, which is clean and clear, with help text and explanations

This is the first stage of this new dashboard. In the coming weeks we will add the following:

An area dedicated to monitoring study closure reviews
LCRN and trust-level views of RTT
Summary charts and tables

To access RD Performance Monitoring, go to https://odp.nihr.ac.uk and you can find it under the Operational category. It's a good idea to click on the star next to the dashboard to add it to your Favourites.

We're keen for feedback on how we can improve this dashboard. Please click on the Provide Feedback button in the dashboard, or email ODP@nihr.ac.uk. We will arrange webinars and hands-on training in the coming weeks.

New Bitesize training videos available for the Open Data Platform (ODP) - 20/01/2020

We've recently developed a couple of bitesize training videos for the Open Data Platform. These videos, which start with the very basics, are a few minutes long so designed to be easy to digest.

The videos currently available are:

Accessing ODP and organising the AccessPoint
Basics of Selections

To access the videos, go to https://sites.google.com/nihr.ac.uk/crnbi/training

Over the coming year we'll continue to add more of these videos, so watch this space, and we'd welcome ideas from our user community.

New All Portfolio dashboard available on Open Data Platform (ODP) - 21/10/2019

All Portfolio is an improved and modernised replacement for the current Portfolio ODP dashboard. It is designed for any ODP user, as a one stop shop for browsing and analysing research activity on the CRN Portfolio.

The new All Portfolio dashboard comes with lots of features:

Analyse the CRN Portfolio by any study category, or by network, trust, site, funder and so on
A My Study page where you can find key information about each study
Maps of research activity, showing different site types and the amount of research activity
Ability to switch between provisional / confirmed / both research activity data
Tables at the bottom of each page, providing the underlying data

To access All Portfolio, go to https://odp.nihr.ac.uk and navigate to All Portfolio. It's a good idea to click on the star next to the dashboard to add it to your Favourites.

Some of the information in Portfolio ODP will be moved to other ODP dashboards, so that our information is better organised and not crammed in one dashboard. Further details to follow.

This is an initial version of the dashboard and we welcome your thoughts and feedback on how we can improve it. Please click on the Provide Feedback button in the dashboard, or email ODP@nihr.ac.uk.

We will arrange webinars and hands-on training in the coming weeks, to showcase this new dashboard.

Towards the end of the year we will decommission Portfolio ODP and will send out further details about this in the next few weeks.

HLO Dashboard updated on Open Data Platform (ODP) - 23/09/2019

The HLO Dashboard on ODP has been updated to enable real-time (daily) performance figures, which makes the HLOs more accessible and accurate for up to date analysis and forecasting.

The dashboard will remain daily until after the next quarterly data cut is taken, where the dashboard will be frozen for a number of weeks before returning to a daily refresh. Communications on the ODP User community will alert users to when these changes occur.

To access the HLO dashboard, go to https://odp.nihr.ac.uk and navigate to the HLO Dashboard.

As with all of our dashboards on ODP, we are always looking to improve them and add new features. We are keen to hear your feedback and take suggestions for improvements and new features. Please click on the Provide Feedback button in the dashboard. Alternatively, email ODP@nihr.ac.uk.

Recruitment Profile dashboard launched on Open Data Platform (ODP) - 19/08/2019

We recently launched a new dashboard on ODP called Recruitment Profile.

It presents data about an individually selected study, showing progress against the recruitment target over the planned recruitment period. The data presented enables users to visually track progress and identify when studies are either falling behind the target or beginning to make progress towards being on target.

Unlike other ODP dashboards the recruitment profile includes future months to allow us to show an expected trajectory of the full study target over its recruitment period.

To access the Recruitment Profile dashboard, go to https://odp.nihr.ac.uk and navigate to the Recruitment Profile dashboard.

Research Targeting Tool - New Features - 29/07/2019

The Research Targeting Tool on ODP gives you the ability to compare CRN research activity against a range of disease and demographic indicators, using maps. New features have been added to that recruitment data can be compared, as well as the number of studies. We have also added a section where you can compare CCGs and indicators.

Previously, the Research Targeting tool presented just the number of recruiting studies per site or per CCG, but we have now added a switch so that you can see the number of participants as well.

A new tab has been added which lets you browse the disease and demographic indicators by CCG. So, for example, you could tell which disease is most prevalent in your CCG. Or you could find out which CCG has the highest prevalence of a particular disease.

To access the Research Targeting Tool, go to https://odp.nihr.ac.uk and navigate to the Research Targeting Tool dashboard.

2018/19 NHS Trust League Table available on ODP - 15/07/2019

To accompany the 2018/19 NHS Trust League Table comms campaign, you can now browse the data in more detail on the NIHR CRN Open Data Platform https://odp.nihr.ac.uk.

Navigate to this dashboard: NHS Research Activity League Table

ODP users can explore the data interactively, with the ability to search for your trust or LCRN, filter by trust type or CCG and switch to view commercial studies. Discover the best performing or most improved trust or CCG, by number of studies or recruitment.

We hope you find it useful and welcome your feedback by hitting the 'Provide Feedback' button within the application.

New-look HLO Dashboard on ODP - 17/06/2019

The HLO Dashboard on ODP has been given an extensive overhaul, with new charts that provide better analysis and insight. This is accompanied by a clearer, more appealing design and colour scheme. The dashboard has been fully updated with final 2018/19 performance data and is ready for you to explore.

The HLO Dashboard contains a page for each CRN High Level Objective, as well as an overall summary. Each page contains a number of key performance figures, charts showing performance over time and other analysis, as well as tables of data and explanations of how the HLOs are calculated.

The HLO Dashboard can be filtered to show a particular LCRN or Specialty, as well as numerous other categories, such as Study Design (interventional/observational) and Commercial.

In the next few weeks, the HLO Dashboard will be updated once again to include 2019/20 performance data. Later in the year, new HLOs will be added: HLO 6D and HLO 9

We hope you find this new dashboard useful and enjoy the fresher look a feel of it. We're really keen to hear what you think about it, so please use the Feedback button in the app to let us know!

To access the HLO Dashboard, go to https://odp.nihr.ac.uk and log in, then navigate to the HLO Dashboard.

New Key Facts Dashboard on ODP - 10/06/2019

A new dashboard is available on ODP which presents CRN's key research activity data in a simple and easy to use way. Information on things like the number of studies and participants recruited each year is available for you to browse and share.

The Key Facts dashboard on ODP is a simplified set of dashboards which show key high-level facts and figures about CRN research activity. There are sections which deal with commercial activity, plus sections for specialties and LCRNs. The dashboards are completely interactive, so you can browse and drill into the data. You can also export the tables or copy the charts to use elsewhere.

The information in this dashboard comes from our annual data cuts, so the numbers will always remain the same. It will also match the same figures which we publish via comms and share with external groups. This means that you can use this information in presentations or highlight it to external partners that we work with.

We hope you find this new dashboard useful and enjoy the fresher look a feel of it. We're really keen to hear what you think about it, so please use the Feedback button in the app to let us know!

ODP dashboards now include research activity from LPMS systems - 10/06/2019

All live ODP dashboards that refresh daily now contain research activity data from LPMS systems. This takes advantage of the new feed of research activity data from LPMS systems to CPMS

This update applies to "live" or daily refreshed dashboards, such as Portfolio ODP, Partner Dashboard, Specialty Insight, Commercial Reporting etc.

The dashboards will look the same and work the same; the only change is that any charts or tables that show recruitment data will now add recruitment data from LPMS and from manual uploads together.

The following week, we will amend certain charts and tables to show the source of the research activity data. For example a bar chart of recruitment with each bar showing the amount from LPMS and manual uploads stacked together. We will also offer an option to filter to switch between LPMS and manual uploaded research activity.

Towards the end of June the research activity confirmation functionality will be added to CPMS and this means that we need to decide how and where to display provisional and confirmed research activity in the live ODP dashboards. All data cut dashboards (e.g. Key Facts, HLO Dashboard) will use confirmed data only.

Over the coming weeks we will be consulting with a range of colleagues across the networks to decide on the best way to adapt ODP to deal with this.