Research
North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust is a research-active organisation, and offering our patients the opportunity to take part in high-quality research continues to be a top priority.
Why is research important?
Research helps us to improve care and services for patients, families and local communities, and allows us to explore and improve new and innovative treatment options and therapies for people who use our services.
How can I get involved in research?
Everyone who uses our services is encouraged to learn more about our research and get involved in projects relevant to them.
Involvement in our research could be taking part in a new therapy or treatment option, completing a questionnaire or attending an interview / focus group.
We have a number of research studies, relevant to our services, which are open and actively recruiting participants.
If you’re interested in learning more about any of our research studies, you can contact our Research and Development Team, and we will arrange for one of our researchers to chat with you. At no point are you under any obligation to take part. Our researchers will explain all aspects of a study in detail and answer any questions you may have. You will be given a participant information sheet that has further details about taking part in the study to read at your convenience. If you are eligible to take part in a study, we will then ask for your informed consent through a participant consent form to participate. You can withdraw from a study at any time, and this will not affect your clinical care.
The UK-wide Dementia Research Registry matches anyone aged 18+ with or without a diagnosis of dementia with current dementia research studies in their area. Find out more here.
We work closely with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to identify Research Champions from our local population and workforce. Click here for more information, or contact our Research and Development Team.
How can I opt out of research?
We want to make sure that everyone who uses our services hears about our research studies and can take part if they would like to. We may therefore send you information about our research studies from time to time. If we send you information about a study, it is entirely your choice if you want to find out more. If you receive this information, you’re under no obligation to take part in a research study and saying ‘no’ will not affect your clinical care.
If you do not wish to be contacted about research, you can let us know by informing your keyworker or by contacting the Research and Development Team directly.
Click here for our research privacy statement.
How can I give my feedback?
Research is a partnership between participants and researchers. Every year, the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) asks thousands of participants to give feedback on their experience to help improve the way research studies are designed and delivered, so that we can improve people’s experience of taking part in research. The survey is called the Participant in Research Experience Survey (PRES). If you have taken part in a research study at North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust, please complete the survey here.
Contact
Email: research@combined.nhs.uk