Our Nurses, Midwives and Allied Healthcare Professionals (NMAHP)

The Nurses, Midwives and Allied Healthcare Professionals (NMAHP) are an established group within the Centre for Trials Research (CTR), who contribute clinical and research expertise to a wide range of studies, including leading the implementation and delivery of studies. NMAHP use their clinical expertise to inform optimal trial processes extending from eligibility and recruitment to delivering interventions, data collection, managing safety, and contributing to the interpretation of results.

The NMAHP group is made up of clinicians with experience in service delivery within different clinical settings within the NHS. The NMAHP breadth of expertise includes co-designing interventions, developing proposals, leading the implementation and delivery of studies, developing and leading new areas of research, through to conducting public engagement activities. A common thread is keeping the experiences of patients and the public at the heart of all we do.

There have been a number of studies where a member of the NMAHP group has had a key role in the success of the trial. Examples include establishing a study in a clinical area involving a complex set-up, where having a clinician as part of the delivery team ensured that the study remained a priority in a busy clinical environment and the study was embedded into the patient pathway.

Other examples include studies in which the intervention is complex and having a trained experienced clinician to help support the research team in the training and delivery helped reduce errors and ensured a high standard of care and treatment was delivered safely to patients included in the study.

The Health Care professionals in the NMAHP group at CTR are trained and experienced in taking informed consent and supporting patients and families through both physically and challenging situations.  When complex screening, identification and consent procedures are involved e.g., population including people who may lack capacity, having knowledge and understanding of the rights of the participant allows people who otherwise may have been excluded the opportunity to take part in research.  An article by Shepherd and Davies (2020 ) discuss the challenges of conducting research in care home settings and how sharing experiences and knowledge to the wider research communities and practices can help with future research studies. It also gives staff working in health care settings e.g. nursing and care home the confidence, knowledge and skills to take part in research activities. Taking part in research activities has a huge impact on feeling valued and helping towards improvements in health and social care for both participants and staff.

Supporting other health care professionals within the speciality of research is an important part of the role along with offering as many people the opportunity to take part in research either as participants or as public representatives.

Shepherd, Victoria  and Davies, Jane 2020. Conducting a randomized controlled trial in care homes: the challenges of recruiting residents who lack capacity to consent. SAGE Research Methods Cases: Medicine and Health, SAGE, (10.4135/9781529726626)

https://methods.sagepub.com/case/controlled-trial-care-homes-challenges-residents-lack-capacity-consent