Royal Surrey to host new NIHR Regional Research Delivery Network
Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust has been announced as the home of the Regional Research Delivery Network (RRDN) South East – one of 12 NHS organisations throughout England to host the newly formed networks that will support health and social care research.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) this week (14 November) announced that a new NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) will commence in 2024 to support the successful delivery of health and social care research in England.
As part of this, 12 new Regional Research Delivery Networks (RRDNs) will cover all English regions, across the length and breadth of the country. After an open competition, Royal Surrey was successful in its bid to host the RRDN for the South East. The RRDNs are being launched on 1 October 2024.
Louise Stead, Chief Executive of Royal Surrey, said: “At Royal Surrey, we have a longstanding commitment to research and strongly believe that it is an integral part of delivering the best patient care. The things we learn today advance treatment for patients in the future.
“We are delighted to be named as host of one of the country’s 12 new Regional Research Delivery Networks. This will enhance our already strong relationship with the National Institute for Health and Care Research, making sure our patients continue to access life-changing research into new treatments and services.”
The RRDNs will form part of the NIHR Research Delivery Network. This will operate as a single organisation across England with a joint leadership function that will balance regional context, expertise and leadership, with national coordination and strategy, involving DHSC policymakers.
The new NIHR RDN will support the country’s world-class research system to deliver high-quality research that enables the best care for patients and the public. It will work across the health and care system, with staff in all health and care settings, to support the effective and efficient initiation and delivery of research. This will benefit people receiving care now and in the future. It will support the NHS and care services and generate benefits for the economy of the UK.
The new RDN, working with the wider system, will enhance equality of opportunity for people to get involved in research, no matter who they are or which part of the country they reside. It will enable research activity to follow patient and service user need, ensuring research is conducted in communities living with the greatest disease burden, in collaboration with patients, carers and the public, investigators and study sites.
Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Executive of the NIHR said: “I’d like to congratulate Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust and all the successful hosts for the future NIHR RDN. I am looking forward to working with Royal Surrey and all the organisations across the new RDN to support the delivery of the best health and care research for the public.
“The opportunity to be part of research is crucial for all communities, particularly those with major health and care needs. The new NIHR RDN will build capacity to extend research delivery in primary, community and social care settings to make it easier for patients to get access to cutting-edge treatments and new models of care, through research.
“The plans and ambitions we have for the NIHR RDN have evolved from the excellent work of the Clinical Research Network over the last nine years. Its many dedicated staff have worked incredibly hard to support researchers and sponsors in England to deliver some of the best health and care research during this time. Without their passion and determination, so much of the world-leading research produced in this country during the Covid-19 pandemic would not have been possible.”