PORTSMOUTH HOSPITAL WINS NATIONAL AWARD FOR RESEARCH

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust has won a prestigious national award for the work it has done to maximise clinical research activity across the Trust.

Clinical research is the way that doctors gather evidence about new treatments, in order to improve patient care in the NHS. Most NHS organisations do some level of research, but there is a national drive to increase the number of opportunities for patients to take part in high-quality research studies.

The “Clinical Research Impact” award was presented to Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust at a ceremony on London’s Park Lane last night (19 November 2014). Danetre Medical Practice (GP surgery) was highly commended as a runner up.

The award was sponsored by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network. It is presented to the NHS organisation that has gone the extra mile to embed clinical research as core business and harness clinical research impacts to improve services and treatments for its patients.

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust received the award after demonstrating how it has taken a multi-faceted approach and introduced numerous new initiatives throughout the organisation to maximise the impact of research.

Dr Greta Westwood, Deputy Director of Research, on behalf of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust said:

“Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust is proud to be the winner of this year's HSJ Research Impact Award, and we wish to thank all our staff, Clinical Research Network: Wessex, and our academic and industry partners in contributing to our success. We are delighted that the HSJ and NIHR sponsors have recognised our successes over the past year, and would like to thank above all, our patients for their tireless support and contribution to research in Portsmouth, and where they now have far more opportunities to participate in high quality research than ever before."

Jonathan Sheffield, Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR Clinical Research Network said:

“What’s happening in Portsmouth is impressive. The Trust has truly embraced clinical research by introducing a wide variety of initiatives that are both highly replicable and scalable. And what’s really exciting is how they feed the results of research back into their services and treatments so that the impact can be felt by all patients served by the Trust.

“Congratulations are also due to runners up Danetre Medical Practice who came a close second. I’m pleased that a primary care organisation has also been recognised because many people think clinical research is something that is just done in hospitals, but your GP can also advise on research that might be suitable to you."

Joining the congratulations was Professor Dame Sally C Davies FRS FMedSci, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser, who presented the award. She said:

“Clinical research is an important element of the work of all parts of the NHS, and we know it is something that patients really value. Our vision is that every patient will be offered the chance to take part in a research study as a standard part of their treatment – whether that’s at their GP surgery or hospital. We have yet to achieve this in the NHS as a whole, but both Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust and Danetre Medical Practice have demonstrated how, with great leadership and strong team work, great progress can be made in making the vision a reality.”