CRP Bulletin -November 2022

Experienced Practitioner Gateway to CRP Accredited Registration - seeking expressions of interest

As we shared with you last month the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) Education Committee has now approved the proposal to widen access to the Accredited Register to experienced CRPs who do not have a degree or equivalent education. Although this gateway is not open yet there are still things you can do to prepare for when it opens early in 2023.

Firstly if you are planning to access the CRP Accredited Register via this route it would be really helpful if you could complete this Expression of Interest Form as this will help us gauge the level of interest and what resources we need to put in place to support this. Thank you to those who have already completed this form.
You can also read this guidance document which outlines what the process will be and what you need to do to prepare to access the gateway.
Start to complete this eligibility form, in conjunction with your line manager, ready to submit it when the gateway opens.

The Academy for Healthcare Science will update their site with the new documentation shortly. If you have any questions or have trouble accessing the documents in this article then please contact workforceandprofessionscrn@nihr.ac.uk

Working in Primary Care

Nikolett Hunyadvari, Clinical Research Practitioner and Local CRP Engagement Lead

Luton, Essex and Herts Valley (LEH) Primary Care Research Team.

I am an accredited Clinical Research Practitioner based in Broomfield Hospital. I work as part of the Luton, Essex and Herts Valley (LEH) Primary Care research team. I completed a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Master’s degree in Neuroscience specialising in dementia and neurodegenerative disease. I worked at the university as a research assistant and, to gain clinical experience, I worked as a healthcare assistant for two years on an acute stroke unit. During my psychology degree and being an HCA I developed a great interest in clinical research and wanting to improve patient wellbeing in general.

My work in primary care is quite multifaceted as I do R and D activities and study delivery, and being based in the hospital, I also get to work closely with the secondary care team. As a CRP, I am responsible for study set up, which involves checking that study documentation meet regulatory approvals, calculation of service support costs and initial meetings with study teams. I also complete pre-engagement checks to reassure practices that university researchers who would need to access patient data or see patients for research activities can legally do so whilst adhering to GCP principles. I am in close contact with GP practices and support them with study set up and delivery. My role in study delivery includes screening and consenting participants, booking them in for clinics at their GP practice and seeing them during the clinics as well if required for the study. Depending on the study, I may collect data, do clinical observations, take blood samples from patients, and complete case report forms and follow-ups.

A very important part of my role is increasing research activity in primary care within the LEH area. This involves the creation and circulation of study bulletins and newsletters and presenting at PCN meetings to GPs and practice managers to increase awareness of our team and gauge interest in different research studies. More research in primary care increases opportunity for a much larger community to participate in research, importantly involving those in underserved communities and targeting diseases that have less attention in secondary care. I believe that supporting registration of CRPs in primary care would be greatly beneficial, due to the current burden on GPs and other healthcare professionals working in primary care, which means less or no time left for research. Currently it is a great struggle to get GPs on board with research because they don’t know what it means to be part of research and what will be required from them. Therefore, CRPs are a great asset in supporting GPs’ participation in research.

I greatly enjoy being a CRP as I get to meet and work with such a variety of healthcare and academic professionals, work on studies investigating a range of disease areas, and I am able to maintain my clinical skills and passion to work with patients and improve patient care. As part of the NIHR’s strategy we also focus on community studies, which widens my knowledge even further. For example, I will be providing an intervention for long Covid patients and will be helping research naive hospices complete a research study in the coming months.

Advancing Healthcare Awards - nominate yourself or a colleague

The Advancing Healthcare Awards for 2023 launched recently and are open to allied health professionals, healthcare scientists, including CRPs, and those who work alongside them in support roles. Would you like to nominate a colleague, your team or yourself for the Clinical Research Practitioner leadership award?

Entry requirements

Nominees must be on the CRP Directory or Register and be a Clinical Research Practitioner practising within the UK and show evidence of:

Measurable achievements in research delivery
Leadership and team working
Impact on the care of research participants.

How to enter

You can submit your entry by registering for an account (please use Google Chrome). The closing date for the awards is 24^th January 2023, so you still have plenty of time to get your nomination in. You may also find this guide to writing a winning entry and this information document helpful.

Rising Star Award

In addition to the CRP Leadership Award, you can nominate a colleague or member of staff who has shown a level of initiative, skill and commitment that is truly exceptional in the Rising Star Award. You may nominate anyone who has been working as a qualified allied health professional or healthcare scientist for less than five years, and who you and others recognise as a star in the making. For more information about all of the awards take a look at this awards information sheet.

Let's increase the visibility of the many rising stars out there in the CRP community.

Inaugural CRP community meeting in the North West - 8th December 2022

This community applies to Clinical Research Practitioners from Greater Manchester and the North West Coast area. If you are interested in joining the community and attending the first meeting, please visit North West CRP website and complete the google form to express your interest or email: learning.lcrnsnorthwest@nihr.ac.uk

CRP Event March 2023 for CRPs on the CRP Accredited Register

We are very excited to let you know that we are holding an event for CRPs on the 7th March 2023 in London. The event will be open to those who are on the CRP Accredited Register.

We are in the early stages of planning for the event but there will be a range of external speakers plus CRPs themselves presenting. Places will be limited and initially open to those who are on the CRP Accredited Register. We'll share more details soon, including how to register.

Your Path In Research Campaign - Clinical Research Practitioners promote their role

Colleagues from across the country have been actively promoting their rewarding and exciting roles with the intention of attracting more talent to research delivery. They shed light on their background, current role and the studies they work on. They explain why the CRP role is an amazing career option! Thank you for your fantastic contributions to #YourPathinResearch campaign! Here are their stories.

Neil's story

Emily and Lindsey's story

Serah and Krystle's story

Emma's story

cartoon image of figure next to a question mark

FAQ

Q: Can I submit my application for the Experienced Practitioner Gateway?

A: No, not yet. We plan to open the gateway in early 2023 but in the meantime you can submit an Expression of Interest form and start gathering the information you will need for your application (see the first article in this bulletin) .

NIHR Learn Insights - CPD Resource

NIHR Learn Insights (CPD resource) for November is now available.

In this instalment, we explore the importance of impact at the NIHR. What it means and why it matters. As part of this month’s content, we are pleased to present a three part podcast series hosted by Andrew Walker, Head of Performance Management, CRNCC. Guests from across the NIHR discuss what we mean by impact and how we measure it, how we design for inclusive impact, system-level impact and systemic barriers to impact, health-inequalities, under-served communities, and what impact means for primary care? We talk about changes resulting from COVID-19, developing an NIHR Outcomes Framework, the use of data, communities of practice, and being a custodian of impact throughout the research life-cycle and of public funds.

CRP Drop in sessions

Need some help completing your Clinical Research Practitioner register application? Come along to our final drop in session of the year

Tuesday 13th December between 15:00 – 16:00: Click to join the meeting
Tuesday 24^th January 2023 between 15.00 – 16.00 Click here to join the meeting
Monday 27^th February 2023 between 14.00 – 15.00 Click here to join the meeting
Thursday 30^th March 2023 between 15.00 – 16.00 Click here to join the meeting
Friday 28^th April 2023 between 10.00 – 11.00 Click here to join the meeting
Tuesday 30^th May 2023 between 12.00 – 13.00 Click here to join the meeting
Friday 30^th June 2023 between 13.00 – 14.00 Click here to join the meeting

Please come along with your questions or any reflections you may have! If you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us - crpadmin@ahcs.ac.uk.

The following resources are all available on our website and may help you with completing your application:

Step-by-step Guidance for Accredited Register for applicants
Frequently Asked Questions
Model templates

And if you would like to connect with your local CRP Engagement Lead, please contact workforceandprofessionscrn@nihr.ac.uk and we will pass your details on to them.

Are you signed up to the AHCS Vox Newsletter?

The VOX newsletter from the Academy for Healthcare Science includes news from across the healthcare science profession. The Academy would love to share more insights into the world of a Clinical Research Practitioner. What does registration mean to you? Have you followed the journey of the CRP Directory and Register development? How does the CRP role work with other HCS roles? If you would like to contribute to a future edition, please send your article to kirsty.clark@ahcs.ac.uk for consideration.

Read past editions or Subscribe to VOX

Connecting with other CRPs

Just a reminder of some ways you can connect -

follow the @CRPractitioners twitter handle run by a group of CRPs.
Join the Facebook page (CRP Support Group) to share questions, achievements and more
join this CRP Group on Linkedin
Use the hashtag #CRPractitioner

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