Research Delivery Workforce Update
September 2023
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.
Note that our L&D offering is research specific and is designed to supplement the non-research L&D offering of your employing organisation.
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*
Accessing Research-Specific Training
E-learning
Please note that NIHR Good Clinical Practice 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 - CRNs North West (GM & NWC).
As a reminder, here are weblinks to our current suggested learning plans for Research Delivery Teams and Principal Investigators.
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.
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.
Our Approach
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 in our approach to L&D & other aspects of this work is described across the pages in the Our Approach to....... webpages.
Within NIHR Learn - Clinical Research in Practice Settings - could be useful in helping new starters settle in if it is used prior to being asked to complete GCP, or for students on placements. There are also several related sections below.
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 Workforce - 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. There are 4 cohorts arranged in October and November. Please note that there will not be any offered in December and January due to NHS winter pressures which can impact staff availability.
"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. There are three sessions arranged in Nov and early Dec.
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.
Important Update around Introduction to GCP
Please note that Introduction to GCP can now ONLY be completed online (i.e. will no longer be offered as a face to face option).
Introducing a new course - GCP Consolidation
To supplement this, a NEW half-day consolidation session has been created 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. They do not get a 'GCP certificate' for this as they will already have one from the online course. However, there will be 2 CPD points available for participating in this session.
Bookings for this course are through the Good Clinical Practice (GCP) 2023-24 pages on NIHR Learn. NW-wide October and November dates are currently available.
If you think your Trust need to put a session on, please speak to your R&D department in the first instance, who can get in contact with ourselves at the usual address: learning.lcrnsnorthwest@nihr.ac.uk
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.
Becoming a PI - next available date: 1st Nov, virtually (register your interest via the link below)
PI Essentials - next available date: 11th October, virtually (register your interest via the link below)
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 Development Programmes
NIHR Associate PI Scheme Virtual Educational Event
The event is aimed at Health and Care professionals interested in learning more about the Associate PI Scheme. The scheme is a six month in-work training opportunity, providing practical experience for healthcare professionals starting their research career.
Further information is available on our NIHR API website.
Date: Thursday 30th November 2023
Time: 9:00am until 12:30pm
Where: Online event
Please share with colleagues
Senior Research Leader Programme: Nursing and Midwifery
Are you a senior research nurse or midwife looking for an opportunity to make a significant impact on the nursing and midwifery research landscape?
Applications are now open for the Senior Research Leader Programme: Nursing and Midwifery. We are looking for senior nurses and midwives from a range of health and care settings, specialisms and roles to join the second cohort of leaders. Applications close 31 October 2023.
Find out more and apply to the Senior Research Leader Programme: Nursing and Midwifery scheme.
New Learning Resources
New! R&D North West launch new one-day workshop series
R&D North West are taking applications a host of new one-day workshops covering a variety of topics. The workshops are all free to attend and will be held in Chamber Space in Manchester city centre.
Some of the topics coming up are:
Writing Skills on 19th Oct
Coaching and leadership 16th Nov
For info all those courses and more, as well as the chance to sign up to their mailing list, visit R&D North West workshops
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.
To support employability events, this month's addition is a suggestion for new NMC registrants.
We will update colleagues via these monthly newsletters, and our NW Research Workforce Twitter account too.
Pathways to Research Leadership
The NIHR Workforce, Learning & Organisational Development Team (WLOD) have released a new infographic to support understanding of national learning programme offers.
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
CRP 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 - Our next meeting is in planning for mid-December. To be notified of details, please register an interest via the webpage above.
North West CRP Confirmers Community of Practice
This group consists of organisational clinical delivery leads or their nominated representatives. Any queries - learning.lcrnsnorthwest@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.
Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs)
FutureLearn Courses: note that you can join these at any time, although if you want to do it with a 'cohort' of learners these have regular start dates.
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. 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 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.
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
Archive of the Research for the Future newsletters
In case you missed it...
The Research Design Service North West publish RDSNW Newsletters and you can also catch up on the RDS June e-bulletin
The North West region for the Council for Allied Health Professionals in Research produce a newsletter. See August's CAHPR newsletter
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!