The Royal College of Physicians Simms Lecture, 6 December 2011: Clinical research networks and the benefits of intensive healthcare systems

Abstract

-Clinical research contributes to the evidence base for the planning of improved healthcare services and creates an excellent environment for the delivery of healthcare and the recruitment and retention of excellent and well-motivated staff. In this paper, we consider the evidence that a research-intensive healthcare system might yield improved outcomes as a result of the impact of the process of research on the provision of care. We review progress in establishing clinical research networks for cancer and the evidence of the impact of the conduct of clinical cancer research in the National Health Service.

How can clinical research improve European health outcomes in cancer?

“…This approach converted much of the NHS to engage in research-intensive activity. It increased the number of clinical studies in the national portfolio, the number of patients recruited was increased four-fold and there were significant increases in the number of staff involved in research (4,17). Over the same period, the National Cancer Data Repository (now the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service) (18) collated and combined existing datasets (such as cancer registrations and hospital admissions) to create comprehensive individual-patient records of cancer diagnoses, demographics, treatments and mortality (18).…”

“…The ways by which research improves health outcomes are known to be complex. Research participation itself may improve the performance of hospitals (4,5) and the uptake of new evidence-based practice may be faster in research-active hospitals (6). We have chosen to focus particularly on recent large studies from the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) on the impact of positive RCTs on cancer patient survival in the USA (3), the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Cancer Research Network in England (NCRN) on the impact of research participation on hospital patient survival in England (4, 5) and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) on the uptake of new research evidence (6).…”

Nurse and allied health professional experiences and attitudes toward critical care research: A national questionnaire study

“…Evidence suggests that healthcare systems that actively engage in clinical research report better patient outcomes. 1–3 High quality clinical research builds institutional reputation, attracts and retains staff. It provides access to novel or expensive therapies that might otherwise be unavailable.…”