NW Research Workforce, Learning & Development

Research Delivery Workforce Update

April 2022

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 learning.lcrnsnorthwest@nihr.ac.uk if you have any queries or feedback.

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

Research-Specific Training Programmes

Please note that NIHR GCP is currently provided as part of the national suite of online learning only. RDTE is back in the classroom in limited locations and Informed Consent and PI courses are being offered virtually.

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, (some highlighted below), especially the range of courses available for new starters - to be in a position to request any available training according to any training plans you may have.

Are you getting the most from NIHR Learn?

Our Learning Technologist, Martin Occleston, demonstrates in this recorded session a whole host of useful resources on NIHR Learn that you might not be away of, and some top tips on how to navigate your way around the system. You can watch here if you'd like to get a better understanding for yourself.

Virtual & Classroom Events

are listed within the NIHR Learn "Locally Delivered Learning" tab (centre of home page) as one NW-wide identity - CRNs North West (GM & NWC).

As a reminder, here are weblinks to current suggested plans for Research Delivery Teams Learning Plan and Principal Investigators Learning Plan, plus we have a poster of our summarised COVID-19 research training advice & guidance

Support in planning research novice development

If you're planning to support a research novice into your research delivery team, please consider utilising the suggested 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.

We plan for incremental learning, using 'spaced repetition', bearing in mind competency frameworks & induction phase timelines and we also use a workforce learning model known as the 70/20/10 rule, with 70% being on the job learning, 20% being peer support and 10% formal learning events. This is described here & other aspects of this work is described across the pages in the Our Approach to....... webpages.

A recent addition to NIHR Learn - Clinical Research in Practice Settings - could be useful in helping new starters settle in if it's used prior to being asked to complete GCP.

There are also several related sections below.

Research Delivery Team Essentials (RDTE)* & Informed Consent (relates only to the Research Delivery workforce)

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.

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.

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.
"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.

Nominations for Training

We need to be able to schedule these training courses according to demand and need support in advance planning from RDT line managers. Please send us a request via this google form for GM teams and this google form for NWC teams to let us know you have a new starter in post who needs to access RDTE and possibly also Informed Consent. We will then send them a welcome message and will make contact when a place for Essentials becomes available - anticipating that once we resume to a more regular schedule, this will be at the recommended time for completion.

Good news: From Feb we are allowed to get back into the classroom in a couple of locations again so for those waiting, there will be extra sessions planned over the coming few months, and we will be in touch with your invitations in due course.

Events & Training, Learning & Development Opportunities

GCP Consolidation sessions - next session April 25th

The NIHR GCP Facilitator Community across the North West are now offering short, informal support sessions for those who wish to discuss any unresolved queries they may have following completion of a training programme such as GCP. Information on how to book can be found here

Research Delivery Team Essentials - 3 Cohorts

3 cohorts have been added across April and May in Lancaster and Manchester. The Workforce Team will reach out to the waitlist when it is your turn. If you need to be nominated for this course, please see instructions above.

Informed Consent - May 24th & June 16th

Information as above for the Research Delivery Workforce. We will automatically contact people who are on our nomination list and have completed RDTE when we have a place available for them on Informed Consent. If from another community, please review the course information here.

Principle Investigator Essentials - April 27th

Offered as part of a PI pathway. Information on how to book can be found here

The Health and Care EXPO North West 2022 - Final couple of days!

The EXPO is an immersive digital event supported by a programme of “live” events that you can join and participate in.

Running until 14th April inclusive, you will be able to visit the digital gallery where you can view exhibits that showcase the diverse health and care research activities that take place across our North West Region. You will also be able to visit the exhibits from our regional health and care partners working to promote our research agenda and communities of practice.

Follow the Expo via the NHS R&D North West twitter page (no account needed) @NHSNWRD

Pint of Science Festival (May 9-11)

The festival aims to "to provide a space for researchers and members of the public alike to come together, be curious, and chat about research in a relaxed environment outside of mysterious laboratories or daunting dark lecture theatre"

There are various in-person sessions taking place across Manchester, tickets are £5. You can browse the full range of sessions on the Pint of Science website, but we've highlighted some interesting ones to the right hand side.

Potential Sessions

May 9th "Swipe right for health research"

May 10th "Health for all" (this is in the Turing Tap!)

May 11th "Taking a jab at inequalities"

New Learning Resources

New NIHR Learn Insights: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and the importance within Research

NIHR Learn Insights is a CPD resource with new instalments every two months and the most recent edition looks at the importance of a diverse and inclusive approach to research.

In the March edition, we discuss how we involve people who have traditionally been under-served by research and explore the highly intersectional nature of inclusivity and the importance of creating psychological safety.

We have worked with colleagues from across the network and members of the public to provide different perspectives on how to engage with Under-served Communities along with practical takeaways for you to take forward in your Continuing Professional Development (CPD)..There is also a link to the recent Embedding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in Your Research Project Webinar

NIHR Learn Insights

Did you know that NIHR Learn Insights is mobile friendly?

Grab a cuppa and take a moment.

Additional Workforce, Learning & Development News & Info

NIHR Tomorrow's Leaders Programme 2022 launches

The 'Tomorrow's Leaders Programme 2022' will run this summer between May and July.

The programme is designed to support early career researchers to develop and deliver surgical cancer studies. It is supported by trainee research collaboratives across all specialties involved in the multi-disciplinary care of cancer patients.

It will run as a series of webinars in May and June, with state-of-the-art lectures on surgical oncology, trial design and translational science along with an introduction to each of the trainee research collaboratives. These will be followed by a face-to-face workshop in London in July, where participants will have the chance to develop and discuss their research ideas supported by an expert research faculty.

The Tomorrow’s Leaders programme is specifically aimed at developing collaborations between early career researchers in surgery, oncology, radiology, pathology and palliative care, however anyone who has an interest in cancer research is welcome.

Details on how to register here. Contact: Sarah Wharton, Communications Manager (sarah.wharton@nihr.ac.uk).

Clinical Research Practitioners

Please find the March newsletter which has just been sent out to CRPs on the Directory and Register. This includes

Reflection on one year of the Accredited Register
A review of the recent CRP event including links to the recording
Details of the next CRP Drop in Session - 25th April 2-3pm - to support CRPs with any queries about making their register application.

National & Regional Workforce Planning Resources

If you are interested in workforce planning; additional workforce; volunteer deployment; skill mix; this webpage holds links to National & Regional Resources.

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs)

Both NIHR MOOCs are scheduled to repeat over the coming weeks/months:

For NHS staff, patients and public: "What is Health Research?" Explore the world of health research and the role volunteers play in transforming treatments and improving health care.

Improving Healthcare through Clinical Research (from April 4th)

In this free online course, find out how medical treatments are discovered, tested and evaluated to improve healthcare for all. As GCP face to face is not available widely at present, this could be well placed to ensure continuity of formal learning for those who are new to research.

Introduction to Randomised Controlled Trials - University of Birmingham (available now)

Discover the importance of trials in evidence-based medicine and learn about the trial lifecycle from conception to publication. To find out more - weblink here.

Digital Tools for Efficient Clinical Trials

This course 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 and is recommended for 2 hours per week, over 4 weeks. It has been developed by staff from the NIHR Southampton Clinical Trials Unit, NIHR NETSCC and Southampton Health Technology Assessments Centre, using NIHR funding.

With all FutureLearn MOOCs, please remember that your do not have to purchase a certificate, you can 'screenshot' your progress and/or your completion page.

Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products

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

NIHR Inside Story - Information Security Monthly Newsletter (5 mins)

Inside Story provides a regular insight into how Information Security affects us. Richard Horton has been publishing it on a monthly basis since May 2017. Some subjects are specific to CNRCC, and some applicable across NIHR. The general idea is to bring subjects to life by viewing them from a different angle.

Primary Care

There is a Research and Quality Improvement Learning Community for Primary Care on NIHR Learn, as well as a new module which is made up of a series of videos entitled Getting into Research: Primary Care, taken from a conversation between CRN GM and the GP Excellence programme.

Associate PI

The Associate PI scheme recently launched a new website which contains all of the details you need to know about the programme, including what to expect, how to apply, and where to reach out for further information.

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, 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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