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Get involved

This page outlines some of the ways in which you can get involved in research and innovation. This page is predominantly aimed at staff in health and social care, however may be of interest more widely. If you are a member of the public and want to get involved in research then please visit the NIHR Be Part of Research Website.

For the purposes of this page we are using a fairly broad definition of research, this includes research as defined in the UK Policy for Health and Social Care Research, but also encompasses use of evidence, evaluation, quality improvement and innovation.

Starting your own research or innovation career

You may have your own ideas for research, evaluation, innovation or quality improvement and want to know more. We have collated a list of training opportunities, which you can find here.

There are a number of schemes available both locally and nationally which can help you to get started. We're here to help navigate your way around these different systems and are happy to talk about what might be most appropriate for you, your project and where you want to take your career. Please e-mail NWICB.ResearchInnovation@nhs.net to start the conversation. Some examples of how to become involved can be found below.

Delivering research

There are a number of ways you can get involved in delivering research. This can be as simple as taking part in a research survey, helping to identify individuals that might be suitable for a study through to taking responsibility for setting up and running a study within your practice or therapy area.

Be a research participant

Researchers look for a variety of individuals to take part in research - this can be as a health or social care professional, as a healthy volunteer, or as a carer or user of health and care services.

Taking part can be as simple as completing an online questionnaire, taking part in an interview or sharing data from your medical records.

It can give you an insight into what it is like to be involved in research, can offer opportunities to learn and be part of the research journey, or give you a new perspective to research.

Help to identify participants for research studies

Participant Identification Centres (PICs) help to identify and recruit participants for research projects being undertaken elsewhere.

PICs will typically identify suitable participants through processing personal data and direct them to those undertaking the study elsewhere.

Often this is carried out via a database search and mailshot or text message but can involve other means.

Be part of a research team

Successful delivery of a study will typically involve a wide variety of staff including clinicians, nurses and AHPs, administrative staff and others.

The team usually works under the direction of a Principal Investigator (PI) who has overall responsibility locally for delivery of that study.

Activities may include:

Promotion of the study and supporting set up
Identifying suitable participants and talking to them about the study
Undertaking or supporting study visits
Collecting and record data for the study

Run a study locally as a Principal Investigator

The PI on a study is the leader of the research at a research site or locality - responsible for the conduct of the study at that site.

Typical activities will include:

Assessing whether a study is feasible to run locally
Oversee the local set up and delivery of the study
Maintain regular communication with the Sponsor (the organisation running the trial overall) and R&D and undertake reporting
Identify, recruit and consent participants

Be a local research champion

Championing research within your professional area can help build momentum to engage in research.

This could include:

Dissemination of study findings and publications
Garnering support for research across staff groups and levels
Encouraging use of research evidence in everyday practice
Collecting and highlighting impacts and benefits of research

Many, but not all, opportunities for delivering research come via the local Regional Research Delivery Network (RRDN) - East of England. If you are interested in starting to build research within your clinical area please contact us at nwicb.researchinnovation@nhs.net or your local RRDN lead.

The NIHR has a helpful page of resources for those wanting to take their first steps into delivering research. Please also see our resources page for further resources linked to delivering research.

Developing research

You may wish to start developing your own research career or get involved in shaping the research that is carried out. There are a number of opportunities to get involved throughout the process. Speak to the team at NWICB.ResearchInnovation@nhs.net for more information

Be an expert advisor

Researchers and academics need healthcare professionals to help ground their research ideas in the reality of the health service. Most healthcare research will not get funding without the input and collaboration of healthcare professionals. As an expert in your field you can help researchers shape their research to maximise impact and give the best chance of informing practice.

Activities may include:

Attending workshops, focus groups or meetings with lead researchers to discuss your/their research ideas

Be a partner or co-applicant on a research grant

Partners or co-applicants on research grants tend to have a more active role on the project and are named on the grant application.

Typically this could include:

Input into the design and conduct of the research
Attendance at project committees or meetings
Input into publication and dissemination of findings

Consider sitting on a research panel

A number of committees are involved in different stages of the research process - these include through funders, such as the NIHR, to help decide which research projects to fund or prioritise, regulators such as the Health Research Authority (HRA) as well as local research related committees and groups.

Committees usually need individuals with a broad range of perspectives, knowledge, skills and experience both lay and professional

NIHR committee vacancies can be found at Committee vacancies | NIHR
Details of the different HRA committees can be found at - Committees and services - Health Research Authority (hra.nhs.uk)
You can apply to join an NHS Research Ethics Committee at - #StepForward Become a REC member - Health Research Authority (hra.nhs.uk)

Evidence and evaluation

We are focused on embedding a culture of evidence use and evaluation across the ICB and wider ICS to support the needs of our population and workforce.

We adopt a collaborative approach to helping teams within the ICB/ICS use evidence and evaluation in their work. We do this by providing advice and support, and by delivering evidence briefings and formal commissioned evaluations.

You can see our Evidence and Evaluation Hub page for more information, contact us at NWICB.EEHub@nhs.net, or go to our resources page.

Innovation

We want innovation to be informed by the needs of our local population and those that provide our health services. We are keen to hear about ideas for innovation or innovation currently happening so we can share knowledge across the system. Speak to the team at NWICB.ResearchInnovation@nhs.net for more information on how to support our innovation vision.

Join our innovation network

We are bringing together a forum for those that have a remit or interest in growing health innovation across the Norfolk & Waveney Integrated Care System (ICS). We plan to meet at least bi-monthly to share, learn and collaborate together.

If you work in health care and support innovation in your role then please do get in touch to join our network.

Be an innovation champion

We want to support those with an interest in growing healthcare innovation across the Norfolk & Waveney Integrated Care System (ICS) by developing support for innovation champions. Innovation champions might be local innovators themselves or those that wish to accelerate innovation use.

We hope to be able to offer innovation champions training opportunities and support innovation actitivies in their organisations.

Share with us

Whether you have an idea for an innovation to solve a local need, want to share learning from innovations that you may have implemented or want to tell us about healthcare needs that you think could be met through innovation then please get in touch so we can share these across the system.

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