How to Best Manage Patient Recruitment in Clinical Trials (with live Q&A)

During 2022/23, over 100 people in England were recruited every hour to take part in health and care research.¹ Despite improvement in uptake post-pandemic, capacity constraints across the UK’s clinical research workforce, facilities, and infrastructure continue to limit patients’ access to industry clinical trials and their benefits.²

Patients participating in industry clinical trials can benefit from receiving early access to new and innovative treatments. For those patients with conditions where there are no or limited standard treatments available, trials may be their only treatment option.²

Patients should be informed and recruited into clinical trials in a way for them to receive maximum benefit, and as a sign of good clinical practice.

Developing a clinical trial with the complete patient experience in mind can help deliver on wider aims to improve research as a whole in the UK, such as increasing the diversity of those who take part in said research.³

We are delighted to have Dr Thomas Brown, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, to explore what points to consider when developing a respiratory clinical trial, the challenges associated with patient recruitment and ways to overcome them. Benedicta Marshall-Andrew will also present on how her organisation, Rare Disease Research Partners, seeks to involve the patients from the outset, some logistics on retaining patients and the benefits this has created for the trials themselves.

References

1. National Institute for Health and Care Research. Annual Statistics. https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/our-research-performance/annual-statistics.htm#:~:text=New%20data%20from%20the%20NIHR,10%20and%20a%20half%20times.

2. Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry. Getting back on track: Restoring the UK’s global position in industry clinical trials. Nov 2023. https://www.abpi.org.uk/media/mcbnhp2m/abpi_clinical_trials_position_paper_20231116.pdf

3. NHS Health Research Authority. Increasing the diversity of people taking part in research. March 2024. https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/best-practice/increasing-diversity-people-taking-part-research/

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• Benedicta Marshall-Andrew

  Head of the Clinical Trial Support Team

  Read biography
  Benedicta Marshall-Andrew

  Head of the Clinical Trial Support Team

  Role and Location
  Head of the Clinical Trial Support Team for Rare Disease Research Partners

  Education
  MA from University College London

• Dr Tomas Brown

  Consultant Respiratory Physician and Deputy Director of Research

  Read biography
  Dr Tomas Brown

  Consultant Respiratory Physician and Deputy Director of Research Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

  Roles and Location
  Deputy Director of Research, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust
  Consultant Respiratory Physician and Portsmouth Severe Asthma Service Lead
  Deputy Programme Director (Clinical) for King’s College London MBBS in partnership with the University of Portsmouth
  Honorary Reader, University of Portsmouth

  Education
  MBChB University of Sheffield, PhD University of Portsmouth

  Research
  Asthma phenotypes and novel diagnostic modalities in airways disease

  Memberships
  Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians