Research Training

Starting Out in Health and Social Care Research is now available on FutureLearn. The course, developed by Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, provides step-by-step guidance on every stage of the research process.

Areas include:

• getting involved in research,
• developing a research idea,
• finding and securing research funding,
• obtaining approvals for research, and
• involving members of the public in research.

This course is designed for health and social care professionals in any field who are planning to get involved in research. The duration is 2 hours per week over 8 weeks.

A free upgrade for this course is available for NHS staff providing unlimited access to this course and a PDF Certificate of Achievement on successful completion.

This data literacy short course is designed to help people understand how the NHS uses and stores healthcare data. It covers the following topics:

• Patient and citizen rights: The course explains your rights as a patient and citizen when it comes to your data.
• Health data research: The course describes how researchers use health data to learn more about health conditions and treatments.
• Risks and benefits: The course discusses the possible risks and benefits of using data.

This course is for anyone who is curious about data, especially if they have used NHS services and want to learn how their health data is stored and used. It is particularly helpful for people who have used NHS mental health services, as there are examples that specifically relate to mental health data.

After completing the course, you can take a quiz to test your knowledge.

Lunch and Learn research and service evaluation sessions

We ran a series of Lunch and Learn sessions from September to December 2022.  Staff were able to attend short presentations and ask questions on a range of topics relating to research and service evaluations in the Trust. All sessions are available to view, and slides/resources are also available for some sessions.

Trust staff can watch the recordings on Connect.

GCP training is provided by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Clinical Research Network (NIHR CRN).

 

What is GCP training for?

Good Clinical Practice (GCP) is the international ethical, scientific and practical standard to which all clinical research is GCP training conducted. Compliance with GCP provides public assurance that the rights, safety and wellbeing of research participants are protected and that research data are reliable.

 

Why do you need GCP training?

Everyone involved in the conduct of clinical research must be competent to perform their tasks, qualified by education, training and experience. This is a requirement of the Research Governance Framework for Health and Social Care 2005, the policy covering all research in the NHS in England, and in law (SI 2004/1031, Schedule 1, Part 2, 8) for those people working on clinical trials.

 

Who can access the training?

Any member of staff involved in clinical trials within the NHS are eligible to access the courses.

 

How is the training carried out?

GCP courses are offered in both a face to face environment as well as e-modules. For more information on dates visit the NIHR website.

Read more on the National Institute for Health and Care Research website.

The HRA provide a variety of training resources for researchers and members of staff who wish to understand more about the approvals process.

Alongside a selection of flowcharts, presentations and information sheets, the HRA provide eLearning modules which are available on the HRA Learning Management System. These include a module on the HRA Approval processes for commercial and non-commercial studies.

Read more on the Health Research Authority website.