NW Research Workforce, Learning & Development

Research Delivery Workforce Update

June 2024

Welcome to our Update page, where we share regional & national updates related to training & research delivery workforce matters.

The North West Research Workforce Team work across Greater Manchester and North West Coast LCRNs, ensuring that there is a cohesive workforce, learning & development offer to our Partner Organisations and the wider workforce.

Please email us at nw.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk if you have any queries or feedback.

*Please ensure you scroll to the bottom so you don't miss anything*

Accessing Research-Specific Training

E-learning

Please note that NIHR Good Clinical Practice (GCP) training is provided online as part of the NIHR Learn suite of online learning.

Virtual & Classroom Events

are listed within the NIHR Learn "Locally Delivered Learning" tab (centre of home page) as one NW-wide identity - NW RRDN.

As a reminder, here are weblinks to our current suggested learning plans for Research Delivery Teams and Principal Investigators.

Research Delivery Team - Novice Development

If you're planning to support a research novice into your research delivery team, please consider utilising the suggested New Starter Research Delivery Team - learning pathway. This is the model used by NW WF Team to create an offer that matches the likely contents of current competency frameworks and is then scheduled to ensure your learner is best placed to consolidate their peer/workplace learning within face to face events.

Most of the pathway can be accessed directly via NIHR Learn. This is not something the learner should be navigating in isolation - it is expected that the line manager will drive the learning plan and development of research novices, in a timely manner with staff performance & retention in mind.

Are you getting the most from NIHR Learn?

To ensure your team are exposed to all that is offered - please ensure you (and any learners you have responsibility for) are familiar with NIHR Learn. We have now created a new page within this site to provide useful information about NIHR Learn to help you and your colleagues understand how to best use it as a resource.

Research Delivery Training from the CRN

Research Delivery Team Essentials (RDTE)* & Informed Consent

We offer a Research Delivery Team (RDT) specific learning pathway to our Partners - scheduled by the line manager, in alignment with how it is offered.

RDTE is designed to underline the first 3-4 months of development & plan for the next few months ahead - and is a course that necessitates line manager nomination. It maps to the Integrated Workforce Framework at either Awareness or Core level for all topics. RDTE Course outline.
"Informed Consent" is an additional course to the consent component of RDTE, specifically for those who will seek consent - so should be undertaken after RDTE. It forms part of the Consent Training Pathway. The Informed Consent Course outline can be explored for more info.

Nominations for Training

We need to be able to schedule these training courses according to demand. Please send us a request via this RDTE and Informed Consent Line Manager Nomination Form to let us know if you have a new starter in post who needs to access RDTE and possibly Informed Consent.

We will then send them a welcome message and will make contact when a place for Essentials becomes available. Places will be prioritised based on time in role, balanced against when nomination was received.

Good Clinical Practice

GCP Consolidation

GCP intro is now only available online. To supplement this, a half-day consolidation session is now offered so that once staff have completed the online training, they can come together in the classroom, (or virtual will be available in future), to work through the principles in practice. There is no GCP certificate for this session as they will already have one from the online course. However, there will be 2 CPD points available for participating in this consolidation session. Bookings for this course are through the Good Clinical Practice Consolidation pages on NIHR Learn.

Places available - Virtually on 11 July and Stepping Hill Hospital on 12 August.

Principal Investigator Training

Offered as part of a PI Pathway. Please make sure you read the course descriptions before booking to ensure you have the relevant experience required for the sessions. These run alternatively approximately every 6 weeks and are mainly being held virtually.

**Note that there are spaces despite showing as 'full' as you are required to complete the registration form to be allocated a place - please read and follow the instructions on 'How Do I Book onto a Session?'**

Becoming a PI - next available date: 11 Sept, virtually
PI Essentials - next available date 27 June, virtually and 30 July, face to face at Stepping Hill Hospital

Dates for our PI training programmes can be found within our North West PI Training pages on NIHR Learn, along with the booking form to register your interest in the sessions. Keep a look out for new dates coming on regularly.

Research-Specific Opportunities

Contact: credentials@nihr.ac.uk

Bursary application deadline: August 1st 2024

Clinician Researcher Credentials Programme Bursaries

Health and Care Professionals who sit on statutory registers can apply for bursaries to take Master’s level courses aligned with the Clinician Researcher Credentials Framework. The programme can be undertaken at King's College London, Newcastle University, University of Exeter and University of Sheffield.

The qualifications are for experienced healthcare practitioners who want to take on leadership roles in clinical research delivery.

For information including the full eligibility criteria and how to apply, please visit the Clinician Researcher Credentials Framework website.

NIHR BRC GM Research Placement Scheme

Calling Nurses, Midwives, Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), and other healthcare professionals working in the NHS who would like to develop hands-on clinical research skills.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) has a number of exciting opportunities for Nurses, Midwives, AHPs and other healthcare professionals currently working in the NIHR Manchester BRC partner NHS Trusts to undertake backfilled clinical research placements.

Further information via

NIHR BRC GM Placement Scheme webpages

Releasing Potential Series - One Day Workshops

Our colleagues art R&D North West are running the 'Releasing Potential' series of free, in-person, one day workshops. The workshops are for early career researchers and beyond and cover a host of topics. Spaces are limited, please view the Releasing Potential schedule and share with colleagues who may wish to attend. The next three sessions are:

July 10th: WriteHere, RightNow
August 21st: Career Planning
September 18th: Coaching/Leadership

New Learning Resources

NIHR Associate PI (API) - Research Learning Lectures

The API scheme have been holding a series of Research Learning Lectures over the coming months for anybody working in health and social care who may be interested in learning more about research.

Research Practice in Health, Care and Community Settings

This new resource is aimed at staff who are working in health, care and community settings, organisations or providers, such as social care or the local authority, who would like to know more about how to support research.

This resource can serve as an introduction to the standards involved in research such as how to manage your research records and collect good quality data.

This module can be taken in preparation for using the Research in Community Settings Toolkit.

New Leadership eLearning resources for all

A new range of NIHR Leadership e-learning modules are available on NIHR Learn. A total of 16 will be delivered until 2025. Visit the Leadership eLearning Modules section of NIHR Learn to explore the initial release of leadership modules available for you to work through at your own pace.

Topics include:

'Strategic awareness'
'Self awareness'
'Inspiring others with a clear vision'

Additional Workforce, Learning & Development News & Info

Open DOORS to help your research career...

NW DOORS is a new resource from the North West Workforce, L&D team, aimed to provide a simple to navigate tool, which outlines the various learning opportunities available to colleagues working in research.

NW DOORS is still in it's infancy and we will be adding new roles/interests each month, so even if you don't see what you're looking for right now, we would highly recommend you bookmark the page and check back periodically.

We will update colleagues via these newsletters, and our NW Research Workforce Twitter account too.

Research Careers Framework for Nurses and Midwives

The NIHR receives funding from the government to help nurses and midwives develop research skills, knowledge and experience. The Nurses and Midwives in research website contains a link to the Research Careers Framework to help people understand the roles available, ideas to support career development and a stack of resources which may help colleagues interested in taking their first steps into a research career.

International Nursing Informatics Conference, NI2024

This conference is being held July 28th-31st in Manchester

The opportunity for individuals to submit a late breaking abstract (see here for details:NI2024: Late-Breaking Abstract Submissions

It would be a great opportunity for research nurses and nurse researchers interested in the digital research space to come and find out about what is happening internationally. For more information, you can visit the NI2024 Nursing Informatics Conference Programme.

Clinical Research Practitioners

National Update

Bi-monthly National CRP Bulletin.

CRP Experiential Gateway to Registration

The experiential gateway to CRP registration is open, closing end of December 2024.

Please ensure you explore the website of the Academy for Healthcare Science for AHCS advice & guidance.

If you have any questions regarding the process, please contact workforceandprofessionscrn@nihr.ac.uk

CRPs North West / Regional Update

You can visit the North West CRP webpage. Within this page, there is the opportunity to sign up to a mailing list to connect you with both the regional and national CRP Engagement Leads.

North West CRP Online Community of Practice - The next date is Thursday 12th September, 2-3.30pm, please register an interest in the NW Online CRP Community of Practice.

North West CRP & Confirmer Workshops

The next regional level workshops is scheduled for July 5th, 10am-12pm. The CRP & confirmer must attend together.

Further information and booking via the NIHR Learn course information. Any queries - nw.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk

National & Regional Workforce Planning Resources

If you are interested in workforce planning; additional workforce; volunteer deployment; skill mix; you may want to view the National & Regional Workforce Planning Resources.

Engagement Resources

Resources to use with your colleagues and students

We wanted to provide you with easy access to some of the resources you might want to consider using with your students, or colleagues who may be interested in becoming more research active.

On NIHR Learn, the Research Engagement Collaborative pages include things like the NHS Engagement Toolkit
The new NIHR "Transforming Lives Through Research" video
Archive of the Research for the Future newsletters

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs)

A MOOC is a free to complete online course, developed by specialists within that industry. Some universities have their own MOOCs available via their website, or you can visit sites like Future Learn.

With all FutureLearn MOOCs, remember that your do not have to purchase a certificate as you can 'screenshot' your completion page.

What is Health Research?

(NIHR/University of Leeds)

For NHS staff, patients and public and is a good first step and overview. Explore the world of health research and the role volunteers play in transforming treatments and improving health care. What is Health Research? registration page

Improving Healthcare through Clinical Research (NIHR/University of Leeds)

Through the Improving Healthcare Through Clinical Research course, find out how medical treatments are discovered, tested and evaluated to improve healthcare for all. This is more technical that the 'What is Health Research?' course.

Introduction to Randomised Controlled Trials (University of Birmingham)

Discover the importance of trials in evidence-based medicine and learn about the trial lifecycle from conception to publication. To find out more the Introduction to Randomised Control Trials will have everything you need.

Digital Tools for Efficient Clinical Trials

(NIHR/University of Southampton)

Digital Tools for Efficient Clinical Trials aims to give researchers and trial teams an overview of how digital tools can support the recruitment and retention of trial participants, whilst also considering their possible limitations. The course is open to anyone with an interest in clinical research.

Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products

The Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre (ATTC) network have developed a new Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products e-learning programme in collaboration with e-learning for Healthcare. Please share with your networks/communities as appropriate.

Newsletters and a round up of things you may have missed...

The NIHR Nursing and Midwifery Bulletin from March looked at new appointments, a conference in May and more.

The Research Design Service North West publish regular newsletters, bullet-ins and self help materials all under the 'resources' tab of their website.

The January Health Services Research UK (HSR UK) newsletter is now available.

If you didn't catch the NIHR & ICS Research Learning Event in January, the recordings and slides are now available to view on demand.

Did you know you can follow us on Twitter?

We have a North-West Workforce Learning and Development Twitter account where we share some of the great work going on across our region.

Follow us on Twitter, tag us when you have something you'd like us to shout about and you never know what opportunities and contacts you might come across along the way!

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