Research/Innovation

England

HOT OFF THE PRESS in 2024 - The multi-professional practice-based research capability framework  has now been published

 In summary:

Health research is essential to improving outcomes for patients and improving the efficiency and efficacy of care. The Multi-professional Practice-based Research Capabilities Framework has been developed to clearly outline how practitioners can get involved in health and care research. In doing so, it supports changes in health and care service delivery to better meet the needs and expectations of the people and communities we serve.

The Framework breaks down the development of research-related knowledge and, skills in a way that supports practitioners to steadily develop them over time. This will allow them to not only use research, but to play an important role in delivering research and developing the evidence underpinning practice. It sets out the fundamental, or core, research capabilities expected of all practice-based health and care professionals. It supports the ambition that engaging in, and with, research becomes every health and care professional’s business, making research part of everyday practice.

The Multi-professional Practice-based Research Capabilities Framework will be a valuable tool for:

• Practice-based health and care professionals
• Service and departmental managers
• Health and care organisations 
• Education and training providers

The Framework has been designed to ensure people can see all the opportunities available to them. It encourages them to learn new skills, become research aware, get involved in, and contribute to, research activity in their organisation. The Framework allows people to identify their current career framework level and the capabilities they would need to develop to move to a different role. Application of the Framework by organisations will support career development and enable the health and care sector’s greatest asset – its people - to fulfil their research potential. 

You can find out more and view the framework titled 'Multi-professional Practice-based Research Capabilities Framework'.

In January 2022, Health Education England published the Allied Health Professions’ Research and Innovation Strategy for England . Together with CAHPR’s Shaping Better Practice Through Research: A Practitioner Framework , these documents identify high level strategic aims for a transformational change in AHP research and innovation reputation, influence and impact on services, as well as describing the integrated knowledge and skills that AHPs need in order to perform applied research within a range of practice settings and at different levels of complexity.

The Multi-Professional Consultant-Level Practice Capability and Impact Framework places an emphasis on systems leadership and embedded researcher functions, in order to: Develop a ‘knowledge-rich and inquiry’ culture across the service and system that contributes to research outputs and has a positive effect on development, quality, innovation, increasing capacity and capability, and making systems more effective.

The framework suggests: This goes beyond using and enabling evidence-based professional practice, data and audits, to continentally evaluating and improving practice, creating knowledge-rich and inquiring cultures, supervising research, working in and leading interdisciplinary research and innovation programmes to contribute to the knowledge base, and adding capacity and capability in research and evaluation across the system and beyond.

Northern Ireland (NI)

In Northern Ireland the Department of Health published their AHP research strategy in 2023

Allied Health Professions’ Research and Innovation Strategy Northern Ireland

The scope of this Strategy addresses four domains. Each of these are interdependent and are all equally necessary to achieve transformational impactful change.

 The bold strategic vision statements are:

• Transformation of AHP professional identities, culture and roles

• Delivery of excellence in evidence-based Allied Health practice

• NI strategic research agendas and priorities are explicitly inclusive of Allied Health research and innovation

Scotland

Scotland operates a centralised system to support clinical research in Scotland and improve quality, efficiency and co-ordination. Working on a pan-Scotland basis a responsive infrastructure has been implemented to encourage researchers to bring studies to Scotland and ensure that obtaining R&D permission is a smooth and rapid process. You can find out more on the NHS Scotland website.

This centralised system offers several advantages:

• Single submission of documents
• Co-ordinated access to clinical investigators and patients
• Co-ordinated contract and budget review
• Co-ordinated study-level pharmacy review
• Model clinical trial agreements
• Single costing for all studies using NIHR costing tool to reflect protocol requirements
• Centralised project co-ordination
• Efficient and prompt approval for study start up
• National oversight via clinical networks
• Performance management
• Strong communication.

They also promote the  Four Nations NHS/HSC Compatibility Programme for better UK wide working. 

The programme is supported by:

• Health Research Authority, England
• Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland
• NHS Research Scotland, Scotland
• Health and Care Research Wales, Wales

Wales

In Wales health and social care research is, first and foremost, about improving the health and care of people and communities. 

The goal for Health and Care Research Wales is to ensure that today’s research makes a difference to tomorrow’s care.

Health and Care Research Wales:

• funds high-quality research for the benefit of the NHS, public health and social care, and provides learning and support to enable researchers to tackle the complex health and social care challenges of the future
• Can offer a wide range of support, guidance and training whether you are new to research or part of our established research community 
• believe that meaningful public involvement is important for undertaking good, safe and ethical research and should be a routine and normal part of the research process.
• supports and delivers a varied portfolio of commercially sponsored research across Wales. Studies range from first in human complex trials of new chemical entities, to less invasive real-world observational studies.