Research

Clinical research is the study of health and illness in people. It is the way we learn how to prevent, diagnose and treat illness. We work with patients, universities, commercial sponsors and others to take the best new ideas from cutting-edge science, and use them to create new tests and treatments that benefit patients more quickly. Research means turning promising ideas or interesting theories into real benefits for Mid Yorkshire’s patients and members of the local community. The Trust currently has research projects running ranging from testing new surgical devices or drugs, to studies aimed at helping us to improve our understanding of many health issues.

The Research Delivery Team, led by Lyn Wilson Lead Research Nurse, is responsible for the development of a successful and balanced portfolio of research studies across all specialities. The team comprises of more than 40 dedicated and experienced members of staff this includes researchers, research nurses, clinical trials assistants and research supporting staff in pathology, pharmacy and radiology. After research approvals and permissions are in place recruitment of participants and/or data collection can begin. Researchers will follow the procedures as described in the study protocol.

The people who carry out research are mostly the same healthcare professionals who treat patients. A research clinician has developed specialist knowledge and skills in the management and care of research participants. The aim is to find better ways of looking after patients and keeping people healthy. We also monitor and lead improvements in standards of care through supporting professional colleagues in the implementation of relevant research into practice.

The delivery team’s role involves having a sound understanding of the issues related to the identification, assessment, treatment and management of participants in a research study. We support studies initial feasibility assessment, assess workforce capacity, organise site initiation and provide on-going support throughout the research life-cycle including screening, consenting, randomising and following up participants.

However, research projects cannot get started without the participation of one key group of people, our patients. We rely heavily on the 800,000 patients we treat every year to volunteer to take part in research projects. Research studies at Mid Yorkshire have helped patients within and beyond the Trust by our involvement in the development of new techniques in healthcare delivery. This innovative approach to testing new ideas is only possible thanks to our patients and researchers.

Mid Yorkshire is committed to providing excellent research, development and innovation opportunities and actively engages with academic and healthcare organisations to explore and support research partnerships to improve our care.

Read more about the following areas of Research

Areas of research - conditions and diseases

We work with a number of partners to deliver place-based research that links to wider determinants of health.

We conduct research into common diseases that affect large numbers of people acknowledged as global health challenges, such as respiratory and cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.

We also conduct research into rare conditions which affect individuals and families.

What our patients say

When we asked research participants in the Trust about their experiences of taking part in research in 2018/19, 89% agreed or strongly agreed that taking part in research should be a normal part of NHS healthcare. 82% said that participating in research had/has a positive impact in their wellbeing.

Get involved in research

We have a broad range of expertise in research delivery across a range of areas. This is growing all the time and we have the flexibility to move into new clinical areas as needed.

Currently we have research projects running across the Trust that involve other services the Trust provide, our studies range from orthopaedics to paediatrics to maternity and to studies aimed at helping us to improve our understanding of many health issues.

We are still able to offer our patients the opportunity to take part in research studies, which relate to the current COVID pandemic. Participants are being identified and recruited by our research team but if you would like to understand more about this process then please contact the research team by email midyorks.my.research@nhs.net.

To find out about current recruiting Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust research studies, visit https://bepartofresearch.nihr.ac.uk and search for Pinderfields, Dewsbury or Pontefract. Be Part of Research is a website run by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and is designed to help people find and contact research studies taking place across the UK.

If you are approached about taking part in research, please consider reading this NHS resource before making your decision.

Research performance

National targets for research

The Government is planning for sustained improvements in the performance of providers of NHS services in initiating and delivering clinical research with the aim to increase the number of patients who have the opportunity to participate in research.

On this page you will find our most recent quarterly reports to the Department of Health under the ‘Performance in initiating and delivering clinical research initiative'.

The Trust’s clinical trial performance is measured against two national benchmarks to improve the initiation and delivery of all clinical trials approved by the Trust.

Initiation - it should take no more than 70 days from receipt of valid research application to the recruitment of the first patient to the trial.

Delivery – for all commercial clinical trials hosted by the Trust the agreed number of patients should be recruited within the agreed timescale.

MY Performance

Trust performance information 2022/23

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q1 2022-23.pdf [pdf] 63KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q1 2022-23.pdf [pdf] 14KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q2 2 2022-23.pdf [pdf] 65KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q2 2022-23.pdf [pdf] 13KB

Trust performance information 2021/22

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q1 2021-22 [pdf] 309KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q1 2021-22 [pdf] 13KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q2 2021-22 [pdf] 308KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q2 2021-22 [pdf] 13KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q3 2021-22 [pdf] 221KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q3 2021-22 [pdf] 13KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q4 2021-22.[pdf] 214KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q4 2021-22.[pdf] 14KB

Trust performance information 2020/21

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q1 2020-21 [pdf] 161KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q1 2020-21 [pdf] 8KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q2 2020-21 [pdf] 161KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q2 2020-21 [pdf] 11KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q3 2020-21 [pdf] 422KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q3 2020-21 [pdf] 417KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q4 2020-21 [pdf] 428KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q4 2020-21 [pdf] 418KB

Trust performance information 2019/20

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q1 2019-20 [pdf] 117KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q1 2019-20 [pdf] 190KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q2 2019-20 [pdf] 126KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q2 2019-20 [pdf] 199KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q3 2019-20 [pdf] 218KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q3 2019-20 [pdf] 195KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q4 2019-20 [pdf] 171KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q4 2019-20 [pdf] 9KB

Trust performance information 2018/19

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q1 2018-19 [pdf] 195KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q1 2018-19 [pdf] 186KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q2 2018-19 [pdf] 97KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q2 2018-19 [pdf] 186KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q3 2018-19 [pdf] 203KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q3 2018-19 [pdf] 163KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q4 2018-19 [pdf] 209KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q4 2018-19 [pdf] 183KB

Trust performance information 2017/18

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q1 2017-18 [pdf] 198KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q1 2017-18 [pdf] 92KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q2 2017-18 [pdf] 184KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q2 2017-18 [pdf] 94KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q3 2017-18 [pdf] 192KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q3 2017-18 [pdf] 182KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q4 2017-18 [pdf] 189KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q4 2017-18 [pdf] 185KB

Trust performance information 2016/17

Perfomance in Initiating Q1 Clinical Research 2016-17 [pdf] 214KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q1 2016-17 [pdf] 194KB

Perfomance in Initiating Clinical Research Q2 2016-17 [pdf] 26KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q2 2016-17 [pdf] 8KB

Perfomance in Initiating Clinical Research Q3 2016-17 [pdf] 120KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q3 2016-17 [pdf] 97KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q4 2016-17 [pdf] 172KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q4 2016-17 [pdf] 85KB

Trust perfomance information 2015/16

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q3 2015-16 [pdf] 219KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q3 2015-16 [pdf] 216KB

Performance in Initiating Clinical Research Q4 2015-16 [pdf] 221KB

Performance in Delivering Clinical Research Q4 2015-16 [pdf] 210KB

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)

A National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded ‘Research for Patient Benefit’ (RFPB) study looking at the consent process for patients in cardiology who were receiving percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was completed. The findings have been used to inform the revision of the patient consent leaflet at Mid Yorkshire and was presented in the British Medical Journal

The RADPoc trial designed to look at the use of point of care technology to undertake a blood test in radiology at the time of scanning. This investigated whether they can provide immediate information about renal function to help decide on the suitability of an injection during some specific scans. This was the first piece of Mid Yorkshire investigator initiated research to be adopted to the NIHR national portfolio and involved 363 patients as research participants.

BaBi Wakefield

BaBi Wakefield (Born and Bred in Wakefield) is an exciting new research initiative which aims to create a picture of local people’s health and lifestyles over time. Starting during pregnancy, we ask consent to use local data which is routinely collected by health, social and educations services, for research purposes. This can help identify how we might create a healthier environment for families across Wakefield District to enjoy.

Find out more about BaBi Wakefield