All NHS organisations are expected to participate and support health and care research, and through the NHS Constitution pledge “to inform you of research studies in which you may be eligible to participate”.

As a research active practice, we may invite you to participate in research studies that may be of interest to you.  This may be done via letter, text message and/or by phone.  It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part.

The research we do helps to identify and provide the best possible care for you, your family and community; research, by finding ways to help prevent illness, and improve treatments and services, making sure they are safe and effective and make the best use of resources and by increasing our understanding about illnesses and what it is like for patients living with these illnesses.

The research we do might involve you filling in in a questionnaire or talking to a researcher about your views, or asking your permission for a researcher to collect information from your medical records as well as research looking at testing a new treatment or therapy.  Full information about what will be involved will be given to you to help you make an informed choice about whether to participate.  Your decision to participate or not to participate will have no bearing on the care you receive from the practice.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Will my details be shared with researchers?

No, not without your consent.  Any invitation we send you about a research study we are conducting will be sent by the practice.  You are free to decide whether to take part.  If you are interested, we may ask your permission to pass your contact details onto the research team, but we will only do this if you agree.  Agreeing for your contact details to be passed onto the research team does not mean that you have to take part in the study.  The research team will give you more information about what would be involved to help you decide whether or not to take part.

Who will have access to my medical notes?

Individuals at the practice may review your medical notes to check you are suitable for a study before you are invited to take part.  This is to make sure that the study is suitable for you.  No data from your medical records that can identify you will be shared with research teams unless you explicitly consent to this.

If you decide to take part in a study to which we have invited you, full information will be given about the use of your data and who will have access to data from your medical records.  You will be asked to consent to sharing of your data in this way if you agree to take part in the study.

When might my details be shared?

Anonymised information (i.e. information that cannot identify you) may be shared for health and care research but no-one will be able to tell that this information is about you.  This is important in helping the NHS to run and improve health and care services.  If you opt out of sharing your data for research and planning purposes your data will not be shared in this manner.

Where can I find out more information about the use of my data in health and care research?

Further information on the use of your data in research can be found on the Health Research Authority Website: Patient information and health and care research – Health Research Authority (hra.nhs.uk)