CRP Bulletin - June 2024


The AHCS Chair's Awards, 2024

Celebrating the AHCS Chair's Awards

NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) Workforce Development Lead, Janice Paterson recently attended the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) Honorary Fellows Ceremony and Chair’s Awards at the House of Lords, where she received a Chairman’s Award for Excellence from the AHCS, in recognition of the ground breaking work that she has done with the Clinical Research Practitioner (CRP) Community.  

On receiving the award, Janice said: "I am extremely proud to receive this award, and to share it with all who have contributed to enabling Clinical Research Practitioners (CRPs) to develop as they emerge as a profession in the healthcare science family.  

Registered CRP practice affirms a commitment to patient safety that is regulated by the AHCS and overseen by the UK Professional Standards Authority, and I am delighted to see that uptake is valued and growing.  CRPs are essential to the future of clinical research delivery in the UK. With support from managers, CRPs are able to demonstrate that their research delivery practice meets the high standands set for the AHCS Accredited Register for CRPs and attain professional registration status."

Stacey Cotterell,  Senior CRP at Broomfield Hospital, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust 

CRP Presentation - Mid and South Essex Hospitals 

Our research team at Mid and South Essex Hospital NHS Foundation Trust hosted a ‘Cardiac, Renal and Diabetes Study Day on Monday 20 th May 2024 at Ye Olde Plough House in Bulphan, Essex. 

As part of this day a small group of CRPs from our trust were asked to create a 10-minute presentation on the role of a CRP/day in the life of a CRP. 

As part of this I asked our teams to contribute towards a word cloud answering the question, ‘what is a CRP?’, and Nikolett Hunyadvari, Primary Care Senior CRP discussed the AHCS CRP directory and register. 

Sophie Harris, a senior CRP at our Basildon Hospital site also put together a video using clips and photos collated by our CRPs. The day was a huge success, (with the video being a particular highlight), and we hope to have more opportunities like this in the future.


Pre- registration workshop South London 

On the 30th of April 2024, an in-person workshop was held and organised by the CRP leaders at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) South London. Pre-requisites for attendance were for the attendee to be working in a CRP role at a CRN South London partner organisation and have the support of the manager. Around thirty CRPs aspiring to join the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) Accredited Register attended the session. 

The half-day session centred on the background information, advice, practical help and tools required to apply to join the AHCS CRP register. There were table discussions on reflective practice in CRP roles, with an organiser at each table to facilitate and steer the discussions towards Leadership, Working Across Boundaries and Professional Accountability.  Attendees had opportunities to ask pertinent questions about their eligibility, and offered feedback on the session, noting that: “the session was extremely useful and well facilitated”  and “the workshop was well detailed and informative overall, it was a great and well-attended event."

CRP Engagement Leads ensured that attendees knew whom to contact for support and highlighted that there will be further workshops for continuous engagement and support to grow the number of registered CRPs in the region.

Picture of some CRP's

Launch of CRP Clinical Competencies Toolkit

In April a CRP competency toolkit, developed jointly by Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Trust (GSTT) and Clinical Research Network South London (CRN SL), was launched in South London Region.

The toolkit is intended to support professional development of staff in CRP roles across all stages of their career, from those who are new to the role where it can be used for objective setting and skill development, through to experienced CRP’s who may use it to document evidence of competencies to support application to join the register.

The toolkit covers four domains of practice: Professional responsibility, the clinical research context, the clinical context and leadership. It was developed with experienced research delivery staff and piloted at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Roll out of the toolkit for online access is in progress.

If you would like to access a copy in the meantime, please contact clair.harris@gstt.nhs.uk

Experienced Practitioner Gateway


Please see below for information regarding the upcoming Gateway panels, this information only applies if you are undertaking route two:


* Please note that these dates may change depending on demand for the Gateway.

For an application to be sent to panel, the applicant will need to fulfil entry requirements fully and submit their portfolio no later than 5 weeks prior to the upcoming panel date (see guidance for criteria). 


Please refer to the AHCS website for more information regarding the Experienced Practitioner Gateway. 


Once the panel has taken place, you will hear from us within 28 days. If you receive an outcome two, you will have 28 days to amend your portfolio and resubmit. The panel will review your resubmitted applicant and we will advise you of the outcome.


If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact crpadmin@ahcs.ac.uk

Not sure about next steps?  

Come along to our CRP drop in sessions

Need help completing your Clinical Research Practitioner register application or you are supporting someone to complete their application?  Then come along to one of our drop in sessions.   No need to book, just turn up and  stay as long as you like.    Bring along any questions or reflections you may have.

Any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us crpadmin@ahcs.ac.uk or you can check out the resources on our website 

And if you would like to connect with your local CRP Engagement Lead find their details on the CRP community site. 

RDF24 - R&D Forum Conference 

A catch up on conference highlights with Deirdre Brooking, Strategic Engagement Lead for CRPs and Workforce Development Lead, CRN North Thames

CRPs came out in force for RDF24, it was a fabulous chance to network and catch up with colleagues across the country. The Celtic Manor venue was beautiful and enabled lots of brilliant conversations.


Sarah Essex (CRP Engagement Lead, CRN NENC) and I presented a poster entitled: CRP Engagement Leads Network, which detailed the background, role and work the NIHR CRP Engagement Leads have done over the last 18 months. It is through their hard work, skills and enthusiasm that so many CRPs are now connected and endorsing the AHCS Register.


I also presented a poster on behalf of colleagues at  the Royal Free NHS Trust. They outlined an investigative piece, finding out how many CRPs were at the Trust, how many were registered, and discussing next steps. 


A conference highlight for me was attending the inaugural talk -  In conversation with BBC Health Correspondent Owain Clarke – bringing your research to life. Which really translated the work we do as delivery staff into a real life context.


Another highlight also was winning a raffle! - I never win anything !!

Keeping details accurate

Please make sure your locality details are recorded accurately when applying to join the CRP Directory, and keep these up to date. This information is key to help best support you and the CRP Community.

If you are already listed on the CRP Directory and are ready to join the AHCS Register, you can begin your application for registration through your online AHCS portal site. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in contact with crpadmin@ahcs.ac.uk

 

Connect with CRPs on social media 

Check out the latest tweets on Twitter using the hashtag #CRPractitioner