Performance information on the initiation and delivery of clinical research
The government wishes to see a dramatic and sustained improvement in the performance of providers of NHS services in initiating and delivering clinical research. The aim is to increase the number of patients who have the opportunity to participate in research and to enhance the nation's attractiveness as a host for research.
Providers of NHS services are required to publish outcomes against the 70-day benchmark and delivery to time and to target for commercial clinical trials. The two areas of performance measured are:
Initiation
Ie. the "70-day benchmark". It should take no more than 70 calendar days from receipt of a valid research application by the trust's Research Department to recruit the first patient to that trial.
Delivery
For all commercial contract clinical trials. For example, those solely funded by industry, which are hosted by the trust, the agreed target number of patients should be recruited within the agreed timeframe.
In the past the trust submitted quarterly reports to the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) setting out its performance against these metrics.
Performance in Initiating and Delivering Research
In light of current pressures on workforce and capacity at the moment, the NIHR have paused the Performance in Initiating and Delivering (PID) clinical research exercises nationally until further notice. As soon as this situation changes, this page will be updated.
