25 October 2016

King’s Health Partners is helping to lead an increase in the levels of clinical research in the NHS.

King’s Health Partners is helping to lead an increase in the levels of clinical research in the NHS, according to new figures published in a league table today (Tuesday 25 October).

In a sign of the research strength at the heart of our partnership, South London and Maudsley, King’s College Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trusts have all increased their number of recruiting studies in the last year.

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust were top in the country for Mental Health Trusts with 94 active studies for patients. Reflecting on this success, Dr Fiona Gaughran, Lead Consultant in the National Psychosis Service and Research and Development Director at South London and Maudsley, said:

The Maudsley and Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience have a long tradition of combining clinical practice and research. In recent years, this has been strengthened through our partnership with colleagues in Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts, and the wider King’s College London research community through King’s Health Partners.
There’s a growing awareness of the need for parity of esteem between mental and physical health, which has been highlighted in government priorities, and it’s very pleasing to see this reflected in the research environment as well. This kind of research is collaborative in nature and thrives in systems where clinicians and researchers work alongside one another, or have joint clinical and academic roles.

More patients were involved in clinical research at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust than any other NHS trust in England. From April 2015 to April 2016 nearly 28,000 patients took part in clinical studies at Guy’s and St Thomas’. Since 2014 the number of patients involved in studies at the Trust has more than doubled. The number of clinical research studies taking place at Guy’s and St Thomas’ also increased by 7.6%, to 494, in the last year; more than any other trust in London and the second highest in the country.

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust increased their number of clinical research studies by 8.4%, to 337 studies. The Trust has also seen an 18% increase in the number of patients taking part in clinical studies with nearly 15,000 participants last year, the fourth highest amount in the country.

Both acute trusts are also in the UK top ten for conducting active clinical trials.

Clinical research is a vital part of the work of the NHS, and provides evidence about “what works” so that treatments for patients can be improved. In addition, there is research evidence to show that patients do better in hospitals and GP surgeries that carry out research – even if they don’t actually take part in a study themselves.

Professor Sir Robert Lechler, Executive Director of King’s Health Partners, says:

As an Academic Health Sciences Centre, our purpose is to translate cutting-edge research into excellent patient care. We are only able to achieve this by increasing the number of research studies we carry out each year. We have both the opportunity and the duty to use science to develop new cutting-edge treatments and therapies. We are also in the unique position of being able to use our research to improve life for the significant numbers of people with both mental and physical health problems.

The NHS Research Activity League Table released today show that 100% of NHS Trusts in England are now offering research to patients. The league table is published by the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network, the research delivery arm of the NHS. It shows the number of studies undertaken by each NHS trust from April 2015 to March 2015, and the number of patients who volunteered to take part in clinical research.