Contact us
Community Research Team: Tel: 01603 272251 | Email: research@nchc.nhs.uk |
Primary Care Research Team | Tel: 01603 272211
X (Twitter): @NCHCresearch
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the NHS arm for research, encourages patients, service users and the public to get involved in clinical research, by talking to healthcare professionals about research activities in their area. The part of the NIHR that helps run the delivery of research is called the Clinical Research Network.
NCH&C works closely with the CRN East of England, to set up clinical studies quickly and effectively, provide health professionals with research training, and work with patients and the public to ensure their needs are at the centre of all research activity.
Benefits of Research
Research changes people's lives, which is why we are we are committed to enabling our patients and service users’ opportunities to participate in clinical research studies and enhance treatment and care. NCH&C are very proud to have our own dedicated research team who work across all our services to support the delivery of NIHR research projects.
Evidence suggests that people who receive care in research active organisations have better health outcomes. The main aims of research are to:
- Improve patient care
- Provide the best advice and treatment for our patients
- Improve the quality of life for people living with illness
- Prevent disease and reduce the number of people who become ill
- Make sure the treatments we give are effective
Meet the Research Team
Community Research Team
The NHS aims to provide the highest quality healthcare services possible. Research is how we develop new treatments and knowledge to provide the best care and a healthier community for our patients. Research helps ensure that high-quality service provision is supported by evidence-based practice
The Community Research Team work to make sure that any research that takes place involving patients, service users and staff is of the highest quality. Norfolk Community Health & Care NHS Trust aims to be a highly research active Trust, offering our patients, service users, staff and local communities’ access to and the chance to participate in research that is relevant and applicable to them. We are a multidisciplinary research team, working from West Pottergate.
We provide guidance and support to all NCH&C staff, as well as external researchers, in the management and approval of research. We support the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) and other research activity involving our staff and our patients. The goal of this research is improve the services delivered in this community and across the NHS.
We aim to:
- Support existing research activity.
- Engage and support new teams to become involved in research.
- Develop links with local universities and other external organisations.
Anna Lartey – Research Manager 
Stephanie Howard – Research Co-ordinator
Stephanie Tuck – Research Occupational Therapist
Laura Towers – Research Nurse
Donna Clements – Research Nurse
Julia Fromings Hill – Research Nurse
Louise Gilbert – Research Physiotherapist
Helen Rossiter - Research Nurse
Denise Reece - Research Nurse
Cathy Mingay - Bank Research Physiotherapist
Gail Lonsdale - Bank Research Physiotherapist
Sara Heritage - Bank Research Occupational Therapist
Primary Care Research Team
We are the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Primary Care Research and Development Team for Norfolk and Waveney ICB, kindly hosted by Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust.
Working from West Pottergate Health Centre, our Team, comprising of 3 Research Nurses, 1 Research Practitioner and 2 Administrators, bring the benefits of research to patients in the wider primary care settings, such as GPs, Pharmacists and Health Visitors to offer patients in within these primary care settings unprecedented opportunities to become involved in high quality clinical studies.
Within our team, the Research Nurses/ Research Practitioner, acts as a link between the GP practice and the study teams, reaching out to all demographic groups to support the patients embarking on their research journey.
The Primary Care Specialty has successfully recruited across a range of conditions and complex interventions. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, we developed a strategy to engage with all practices in Norwich. This entailed identifying covid patients on a daily basis, contacting them and inviting them to participate in an Urgent Public Health study. This resulted in the highest recruitment from any participating group in the country for which we received the coveted ‘Breaking Boundaries’ award.
For more information on Primary Care Research, please click here
Kirsti Withington - Locality Manager
Cliff Cox - RSI Contracts Manager
Chloe Curtis - PCR Administrator
Helen Gerrish - Clinical Research Nurse
Suzanne Walker - Clinical Research Nurse
Alison Davie - Clinical Research Nurse
Denise Archer - Clinical Research Practitioner
Agile Research Team
The Agile team at NCH&C supports research delivery in Wider Care and Community settings. We work closely with Care homes, Schools, Hospices and also support our Community and Primary Care research colleagues.
Roselyn Enesi – Research Nurse
Rachel Stebbings - Research Nurse
Harley Birchenall - Research Facilitator and Liaison Officer
Patient Research Champion (PRC)
Current studies
Vapeline: Do e-cigarettes help smokers quit when not accompanied by intensive behavioural support?
Researchers at the Queen Mary University of London are seeking smokers in Norfolk who want to quit, who would like to take part in a new research project. Vapeline is a new study researching e-cigarettes as a quitting aid. Researchers want to establish whether smokers using a vape to quit also need face-to-face support or telephone support messages. If you, or someone you know, may be interested, please email vapeline@qmul.ac.uk or text REPLY to 07860 040099.
Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Families Project (PFP)
Researchers from the University College London are conducting a research study to investigate the genetic makeup of patients with Parkinson’s Disease or another movement disorder (eg, tremor, dystonia, myoclonus). The hope is to identify new genetic variants associated with these conditions, so that we can understand them better and develop new tests and treatments. We would be interested to talk to those individuals in Norfolk, who have either symptom onset at or <45 years of age or with a family history of one of these conditions, as you may be able to take part.
MINDARISE
The University of Sussex is carrying out a new study, MINDARISE, to see if mindfulness can help with some of the stress that NHS staff are currently experiencing. They are looking for NHS staff members who have ever practiced mindfulness to complete a few online questionnaires at three separate time-points over six months, with the additional option of a remote Zoom interview for those who are keen.
If you would like more information on this study, please visit: https://universityofsussex.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9LEL9rM1w09osuy
MiNDToolkit
This is a feasibility study assessing the acceptability of an online platform available to carers of people with Motor Neurone Disease (MND). Information on the platform is designed to help in the management of behavioural changes associated with MND.
To find out more, please visit https://mindtoolkit.org/
The geko Cross-Therapy REGISTRY – Wound
This is an observational, anonymised data collection registry with no experimental treatment, that will fulfil an unmet need to provide long-term clinical data to demonstrate patient benefit and regulatory compliance. We are working closely with the Leg Ulcer Clinic at the Norwich Community Hospital to identify suitable participants for this study. Patients recruited onto this study will receive a geko device, alongside their standard care.
To find out more, please visit https://www.gekodevices.com/
Getting Involved in Research
RESIDE – Research Interest Database
What is RESIDE?
When you sign up to RESIDE it means you are interested in hearing about research projects that you or someone you know, might want to take part in. RESIDE is a secure database held at Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust. It means that we can contact you when a research project that might interest you is available. By only letting you know about research projects that might be suitable for you limits how many times we contact you with research projects that might not be relevant to you.
How do I sign up?
Click here to add your details and sign up to RESIDE.
What can I expect when I sign up?
When you choose to sign up, a member of the research team will contact you by phone within about two weeks. During this call, a few more questions will be asked to help us understand a bit more about you. This means we can offer you research projects that are most suitable for you. After this, we will send you an email or letter to thank you and give you our contact details.
After the initial contact, what will happen?
Whenever there is a research project that might suit you, we will let you know about it by your preferred method – phone or email or post. It’s then up to you if you want to go ahead and take part in the research.
What if there are no research projects suitable for me?
Sometimes, there won’t be research projects that are suitable for you for some time. If this has been the case for around a year, we will contact you to check that you still want to stay on RESIDE. If we can’t reach you by phone, we will try by email or letter. If we don’t hear back from you, we will take your details off RESIDE.
How do I leave RESIDE?
You choose to sign up and you can choose to leave! Just contact us on the details we sent you and let us know you want to be removed from RESIDE. It might be that when we contact you, you choose to say that you would like to leave RESIDE, that’s ok, just tell us that.
Thank you for your interest in research!
Click here to add your details and sign up to RESIDE.
Be Part of Research
Last year more than 1.3 million people, of all ages, took part in vital health and social care research. It is through high quality, ethically-approved research, that we can develop better treatments, improve diagnosis, learn more about prevention of illness and provide better care for everyone.
Often studies look for people living with a particular condition. But others may be seeking people who care for someone with a long-term illness, or people who do not have a condition (sometimes called ‘healthy volunteers’). Everyone can make a difference, whatever their circumstances.
Be Part of Research is an online service that helps members of the public understand what research is, what taking part might involve, as well as helping people find research studies and volunteer to take part.
The service is mobile friendly and has a search tool that allows you to search by illnesses or conditions that are of interest to you, or by location or postcode.
Once you’ve found a study, you can see all the details including who to contact so you can ask to take part. You can also download, save or print the full study details so you can talk to your doctor, nurse or healthcare professional.
Getting involved in Research Newsletters
For more information on how you can get involved in Research please see links below.
Getting Involved in Research Newsletter - January 2024
Getting Involved in Research Newsletter - December 2023
Getting-Involved-in-Research-Newsletter - November 2023
Getting Involved in Research newsletter - October 2023
Performance in Initiating and Delivering Clinical Research
NHS providers are required to publish the information on recruitment to clinical trials and recruitment to time and target for commercial contract clinical trials in an accessible part of their website. You can access the information for NCH&C performance via the NIHR Clinical Trials Performance website.
Work Experience and Students
Student and Work Experience with the Research Team at Norfolk Community Health & Care NHS Trust
The Research Team at NCH&C support the safe delivery of clinical research studies within the trust. The delivery team supports our clinicians to set up individual studies, and assist them to recruit service users, patients and staff onto the study as required. Our team is also responsible for ensuring all study related procedures, such as questionnaires, health assessments and medications are administered safely and in accordance with the study protocol, and that accurate study records are maintained.
As part of your work experience you will get the opportunity to help assist with the administration involved in setting up of studies, potentially being involved in promotional work, and helping mail out about studies. Please note that we are not involved in lab-based research, and this placement will be office/clinical based.
For more information and to gain an understanding of our team, please check our trust web site and the NIHR website: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/