Contact us
Community Research Team: Tel: 01603 272251 | Email: research@nchc.nhs.uk |
Primary Care Research Team | Tel: 01603 272211
X (Twitter): @NCHCresearch
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the NHS arm for research, encourages patients, service users and the public to get involved in clinical research, by talking to healthcare professionals about research activities in their area. The part of the NIHR that helps run the delivery of research is called the Clinical Research Network.
NCH&C works closely with the CRN East of England, to set up clinical studies quickly and effectively, provide health professionals with research training, and work with patients and the public to ensure their needs are at the centre of all research activity.
Benefits of Research
Research changes people's lives, which is why we are we are committed to enabling our patients and service users’ opportunities to participate in clinical research studies and enhance treatment and care. NCH&C are very proud to have our own dedicated research team who work across all our services to support the delivery of NIHR research projects.
Evidence suggests that people who receive care in research active organisations have better health outcomes. The main aims of research are to:
- Improve patient care
- Provide the best advice and treatment for our patients
- Improve the quality of life for people living with illness
- Prevent disease and reduce the number of people who become ill
- Make sure the treatments we give are effective
Meet the Research Team
Community Research Team
The NHS aims to provide the highest quality healthcare services possible. Research is how we develop new treatments and knowledge to provide the best care and a healthier community for our patients. Research helps ensure that high-quality service provision is supported by evidence-based practice
The Community Research Team work to make sure that any research that takes place involving patients, service users and staff is of the highest quality. Norfolk Community Health & Care NHS Trust aims to be a highly research active Trust, offering our patients, service users, staff and local communities’ access to and the chance to participate in research that is relevant and applicable to them. We are a multidisciplinary research team, working from West Pottergate.
We provide guidance and support to all NCH&C staff, as well as external researchers, in the management and approval of research. We support the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) and other research activity involving our staff and our patients. The goal of this research is improve the services delivered in this community and across the NHS.
We aim to:
- Support existing research activity.
- Engage and support new teams to become involved in research.
- Develop links with local universities and other external organisations.
Anna Lartey – Research Manager 
Stephanie Howard – Research Co-ordinator
Stephanie Tuck – Research Occupational Therapist
Laura Towers – Research Nurse
Donna Clements – Research Nurse
Julia Fromings Hill – Research Nurse
Louise Gilbert – Research Physiotherapist
Helen Rossiter - Research Nurse
Denise Reece - Research Nurse
Cathy Mingay - Bank Research Physiotherapist
Gail Lonsdale - Bank Research Physiotherapist
Sara Heritage - Bank Research Occupational Therapist
Primary Care Research Team
We are the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Primary Care Research and Development Team for Norfolk and Waveney ICB, kindly hosted by Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust.
Working from West Pottergate Health Centre, our Team, comprising of 3 Research Nurses, 1 Research Practitioner and 2 Administrators, bring the benefits of research to patients in the wider primary care settings, such as GPs, Pharmacists and Health Visitors to offer patients in within these primary care settings unprecedented opportunities to become involved in high quality clinical studies.
Within our team, the Research Nurses/ Research Practitioner, acts as a link between the GP practice and the study teams, reaching out to all demographic groups to support the patients embarking on their research journey.
The Primary Care Specialty has successfully recruited across a range of conditions and complex interventions. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, we developed a strategy to engage with all practices in Norwich. This entailed identifying covid patients on a daily basis, contacting them and inviting them to participate in an Urgent Public Health study. This resulted in the highest recruitment from any participating group in the country for which we received the coveted ‘Breaking Boundaries’ award.
For more information on Primary Care Research, please click here
Kirsti Withington - Locality Manager
Cliff Cox - RSI Contracts Manager
Chloe Curtis - PCR Administrator
Helen Gerrish - Clinical Research Nurse
Suzanne Walker - Clinical Research Nurse
Alison Davie - Clinical Research Nurse
Denise Archer - Clinical Research Practitioner
Agile Research Team
The Agile team at NCH&C supports research delivery in Wider Care and Community settings. We work closely with Care homes, Schools, Hospices and also support our Community and Primary Care research colleagues.
Roselyn Enesi – Research Nurse
Rachel Stebbings - Research Nurse
Harley Birchenall - Research Facilitator and Liaison Officer
Patient Research Champion (PRC)
Current studies
| Project Short Title | IRAS Number | Project Full Title | Project Summary | Planned Recruitment End Date | Project site status | Project Type | More Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult ONS trial | 299055 | Evaluation of three new ready to drink oral nutritional supplements for the management of disease-related malnutrition in adults | The aim of this study is to evaluate compliance, acceptability, gastrointestinal tolerance, nutrient intake, appetite, nutritional status, and safety of four new ready to drink ONS. This is a prospective, longitudinal, 28-day intervention study with a 1-day baseline period. During the intervention period, patients will receive one of the four ONS for 28 days alongside their routine diet. | 31/12/2024 | Open | Commercial portfolio | More Info |
| BEACON | 327021 | Online brain training for people with cognitive impairment following SARS-CoV-2 infection: A randomised controlled clinical trial | BEACON is an online clinical trial for people with Long Covid who are experiencing brain fog or having problems with their memory and brain health. It aims to test a brain training app in people aged 18 and over and will last six months. People can take part from home by registering for the trial on their smartphone, device or computer. BEACON will involve over 1500 people across the UK. | 21/06/2024 | Closed | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| Can we use c-SIGHT for spatial neglect in stroke survivor’s homes? | 275001 | A feasibility study of a computerised Spatial Inattention Grasping Home-based Therapy for stroke survivors (c-SIGHT) | Spatial neglect is a common condition occuring after stroke, meaning people may not be aware of anything on one side. It will test if a new computerised therapy for neglect (c-SIGHT; computerised Spatial Inattention Grasping Home-based Therapy) can be self-administered at home. It will test the accuracy of a new computerised spatial neglect test (CENT; computerised extrapersonal neglect test) compared to paper-and-pencil tests. | 30/06/2024 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| CHElsea II Trial | 313640 | A Cluster Randomised Trial of Clinically Assisted Hydration in Patients in the Last Days of Life | The aim of the CHELsea II trial is to assess whether giving patients in the last days of life fluids via a drip (“clinically-assisted hydration”, CAH) is effective at preventing them from developing delirium (“terminal agitation”). | 30/09/2024 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| COMMITS | 261352 | Confirming the Mechanism of Motivational Interviewing Therapy after Stroke: a multi-centre randomised controlled trial | This research intends to help people who have had a stroke come to terms with their stroke and reduce depressive symptoms, a common problem after stroke. Depression affects about one in three stroke survivors. Depressed patients tend to be less motivated to take part in rehabilitation when they are in hospital, resulting in longer hospital stay and poorer recovery. A type of talking therapy (counselling) called Motivational Interviewing-Based Intervention (MIBI) could be beneficial in helping stroke survivors adapt to life after a stroke. The aim of this study is to determine if MIBI is an effective and cost-effective approach for helping people who have had a stroke. | 30/09/2024 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| EEG | 136640 | EEG based Awareness Detection and Communication in Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness and Physical Disability | Severely altered consciousness most often occurs as a result of brain injury. Some injuries are mild and may cause relatively minor changes in consciousness however a condition may arise where a person is considered to be in a vegetative state, where they are "awake" but unaware. There is evidence that a subset of patients with these prolonged disorders of consciousness (DoC) can, modulate their brain activity in response to instructions to perform, voluntarily, mental imagery or when attending to stimuli, presented either auditorily or visually. With these findings we have gathered evidence that electroencephalogram (EEG)-based bedside detection of awareness is possible using Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology. BCI technology can provide an alternative communication channel to the physically impaired (PI) which does not depend on neuromuscular control or overt motor control. | 31/03/2025 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| Environmental factors on DFUs incidence - a mixed-mode survey | 312284 | The role of various environmental factors on the incidence, severity and recurrence of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) in adult patients with diabetes in England. | Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) pose a significant threat to the health and wellbeing of diabetic patients. Affecting around 1 in 10 people (NHS North West Coast Strategic Clinical Networks, 2017) regardless of a diabetes type they often result in a drastically worsened quality of life. They can lead to severe consequences including leg amputations. This survey will help to understand what role various environmental factors have on the incidence, severity, and recurrence of DFUs. | 02/09/2024 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| Frailty and glycaemia in older adults with type 1 diabetes | 325332 | A cohort study to investigate frailty and glycaemic control in older adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus | This study will look at people over the age of 65 with Type 1 diabetes (T1DM). We suspect that older people with more changes associated with frailty are likely to have more fluctuations in their glucose levels and be at greater risk of hypoglycaemia. This has not yet been proven in a trial. | 31/05/2024 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| Long COVID and HRQoL v0.1 | 304354 | Quality-of-life in patients with long COVID: harnessing the scale of big data to quantify the health and economic costs | Long COVID is estimated to affect 1.7 million people in the UK. One way of assessing the impact of long COVID is to measure quality-of-life through a standard questionnaire, which can then be used to understand the costs of long COVID to the NHS and wider economy. The impact of long COVID on these measures is not currently known. It is important to understand who is worst affected by long COVID and the cost to the NHS, so that strategies like booster vaccines can be prioritised to the right people. | 31/07/2023 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| My Diabetes and Me | 318439 | The clinical and cost-effectiveness of the DESMOND-ID education programme for adults with intellectual disability and Type 2 diabetes | We want to find the best way to help people with a learning or intellectual disability who have Type 2 Diabetes. We will test whether providing some structured education around managing their diabetes and maintaining healthier lifestyles (diet, exercise) helps people with intellectual disabilities to manage their blood sugar and to stay healthier in the future. | 31/05/2024 | Closed | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| OUTDOOR | 329085 | Outdoor Mobility After Hip Fracture: A Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial | Only one in four people can go outdoors four months after breaking their hip. Helping people get back to going outdoors could lower their chances of new illness, loneliness, or needing more support from friends and family. This NIHR funded study wants to see if the NHS can better support people who break their hip to get back to going outdoors. To determine the effectiveness of community-based rehabilitation interventions which incorporate outdoor mobility on physical activity, endurance, outdoor mobility and falls-related self-efficacy in older adults. | 31/10/2024 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| Parkinson's and Movement Disorders Families Project (PFP) | 162268 | Parkinson's and Movement Disorders Families Project (PFP) | The aim of the study is to identify new genes that predispose or cause Parkinson's Disease, Parkinsonism, and other movement disorders. There is a pressing need to study the genetic makeup of family members both with and without these conditions. As families share a common genetic background, it is easier to find new Parkinson's/movement disorder genes by studying the genetic makeup of people with Parkinson's/another movement disorder alongside other members of their families. | 01/03/2030 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| Reduction of Bacteriuria Cam-Cath-001 | 283618 | A Prospective Multicentre Randomized Study to assess the impact of a catheter coating on clinical bacteriuria | The purpose of the study is to investigate the reduction of bacteriuria (bacteria in urine) in coated catheters compared to standard care, uncoated catheters. The Camstent coated catheter is a CE marked Medical Device. The coating applied is a silky smooth micro-thin patented polymer. | TBC | Open | Commercial portfolio | More Info |
| Swallow Training with Biofeedback in Acute Post Stroke Dysphagia | 319969 | Swallow Strength and Skill Training with Biofeedback in acute post stroke dysphagia | About 50% of people who have a stroke experience difficulty swallowing. There is a growing evidence base showing that swallowing therapy can help to improve swallowing, but we don't know which type or how much therapy is most beneficial. Swallow strength and skill training with surface electromyography (sEMG) biofeedback may improve dysphagia but little is known about the feasibility and efficacy of this intervention in acute stroke. | 01/10/2024 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| The ELSA study | 309252 | The ELSA Study: EarLy Surveillance for Autoimmune diabetes | Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune condition, and one of the most common, chronic conditions of childhood. Three stages of T1D are recognised, with stage 1 and 2 T1D characterised by autoimmunity (presence of two or more diabetes antibodies) where individuals are pre-symptomatic. Stage 3 T1D is the classical symptomatic presentation, when insulin commencement is necessary. Almost all children with two or more T1D antibodies, will develop T1D in their lifetime. Earlier detection of T1D will identify individuals who can be offered novel therapies for T1D prevention and allow insulin treatment to be started sooner, reducing the risk of long-term complications and avoid T1D being diagnosed as an emergency. We propose to explore the feasibility and acceptability of a system for identifying children in the general population at risk of type 1 diabetes (T1D). | 30/08/2024 | Project site in set up | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| The MELD Study: Stage 2 | 310149 | Mapping and Evaluating Services for Children with Learning Disabilities and Behaviours that Challenge (MELD): Stage 2 | This research is about community-based services across England that support children with a LD and BtC, and their families. We want to find out if the way that services are structured and organised (known as “service models”) has any effect on the outcomes of children with LD and BtC and their families, and what their experiences of services are. | 31/07/2024 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| The PETAL intervention | 316749 | Personalised treatment packages for adults with learning disabilities who display aggression in community settings: a cluster randomised controlled trial | This cluster randomised controlled trial aims to investigate whether a new multi-component personalised psychosocial intervention is clinically and cost-effective to address aggression (e.g., improved health, better quality of life) in adults with intellectual disability. The PETAL intervention has been co-produced with family carers and adults with intellectual disability alongside researchers and clinicians in intellectual disability. This project will take place in community intellectual disability services across the UK (e.g., England, Scotland and Northern Ireland) delivering either: 1. the PETAL intervention alongside Treatment As Usual (TAU) or 2. TAU alone. That means that adults with intellectual disability will have access to care anyway. We will compare the outcomes for those in the two intervention groups. | 30/09/2024 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| Transcutaneous Limb Recovery Post-Stroke (TRICEPS) | 308254 | An efficacy and mechanism evaluation of transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation for upper limb recovery post-stroke – a randomised, controlled, multi-arm, multi-stage, adaptive design trial | TRICEPS aims to determine whether Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (TVNS) paired with rehabilitation therapy of the affected arm post stroke improves motor function in participants with arm weakness following a stroke. In this trial, we will stimulate the VN in a non-invasive way at home. The VN will be stimulated through the skin via an earpiece using a TVNS device. | 31/01/2025 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
| Trauma-AID | 260514 | Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in adults with intellectual disabilities | People with intellectual disabilities (PwID) are at increased risk of all types of abuse. PwID exposed to traumatic events show typical symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) anxiety, flashbacks, recurring nightmares, and more complex presentations PwID require highly specialist NHS intellectual disability (ID) services, and are at risk of admission to hospital. We aim to determine whether EMDR provides value for money, improves the mental health and quality of life of PwID who suffer PTSD and whether the outcomes are influenced by the complexity of the PTSD. | 30/09/2024 | Open | Non-commercial portfolio | More Info |
Participant in Research Experience Survey
What is it?
The Participant in Research Experience Survey (PRES) has been developed by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) Coordinating Centre.
It measures the experiences of participants in health and social care research.
Why do we deliver PRES?
We ask participants to complete the PRES to understand their experiences of research so that we can improve our delivery in the future and ensure a positive experience for participants.
Feedback helps us to understand what we are doing well, and we can celebrate and share these successes with research staff.
Please only complete the survey if you have taken part in research at Norfolk Community Health & Care NHS Trust. If you would like to complete the survey & have not been given a form or an electronic link please contact: research@nchc.nhs.uk
Below are some of the responses we have received from our Research Participants :
Getting Involved in Research
RESIDE – Research Interest Database
What is RESIDE?
When you sign up to RESIDE it means you are interested in hearing about research projects that you or someone you know, might want to take part in. RESIDE is a secure database held at Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust. It means that we can contact you when a research project that might interest you is available. By only letting you know about research projects that might be suitable for you limits how many times we contact you with research projects that might not be relevant to you.
How do I sign up?
Click here to add your details and sign up to RESIDE.
What can I expect when I sign up?
When you choose to sign up, a member of the research team will contact you by phone within about two weeks. During this call, a few more questions will be asked to help us understand a bit more about you. This means we can offer you research projects that are most suitable for you. After this, we will send you an email or letter to thank you and give you our contact details.
After the initial contact, what will happen?
Whenever there is a research project that might suit you, we will let you know about it by your preferred method – phone or email or post. It’s then up to you if you want to go ahead and take part in the research.
What if there are no research projects suitable for me?
Sometimes, there won’t be research projects that are suitable for you for some time. If this has been the case for around a year, we will contact you to check that you still want to stay on RESIDE. If we can’t reach you by phone, we will try by email or letter. If we don’t hear back from you, we will take your details off RESIDE.
How do I leave RESIDE?
You choose to sign up and you can choose to leave! Just contact us on the details we sent you and let us know you want to be removed from RESIDE. It might be that when we contact you, you choose to say that you would like to leave RESIDE, that’s ok, just tell us that.
Thank you for your interest in research!
Be Part of Research
Last year more than 1.3 million people, of all ages, took part in vital health and social care research. It is through high quality, ethically-approved research, that we can develop better treatments, improve diagnosis, learn more about prevention of illness and provide better care for everyone.
Often studies look for people living with a particular condition. But others may be seeking people who care for someone with a long-term illness, or people who do not have a condition (sometimes called ‘healthy volunteers’). Everyone can make a difference, whatever their circumstances.
Be Part of Research is an online service that helps members of the public understand what research is, what taking part might involve, as well as helping people find research studies and volunteer to take part.
The service is mobile friendly and has a search tool that allows you to search by illnesses or conditions that are of interest to you, or by location or postcode.
Once you’ve found a study, you can see all the details including who to contact so you can ask to take part. You can also download, save or print the full study details so you can talk to your doctor, nurse or healthcare professional.
Getting involved in Research Newsletters
For more information on how you can get involved in Research please see links below.
Getting Involved in Research Newsletter - May 2024
Getting Involved in Research Newsletter.- February 2024
Getting Involved in Research Newsletter - January 2024
Getting Involved in Research Newsletter - December 2023
Getting-Involved-in-Research-Newsletter - November 2023
Getting Involved in Research newsletter - October 2023
Participant Case Studies
Some of our participants have been kind enough to share their Research Experience Stories. To read these, please click on the links below:
Performance in Initiating and Delivering Clinical Research
NHS providers are required to publish the information on recruitment to clinical trials and recruitment to time and target for commercial contract clinical trials in an accessible part of their website. You can access the information for NCH&C performance via the NIHR Clinical Trials Performance website.
Work Experience and Students
Student and Work Experience with the Research Team at Norfolk Community Health & Care NHS Trust
The Research Team at NCH&C support the safe delivery of clinical research studies within the trust. The delivery team supports our clinicians to set up individual studies, and assist them to recruit service users, patients and staff onto the study as required. Our team is also responsible for ensuring all study related procedures, such as questionnaires, health assessments and medications are administered safely and in accordance with the study protocol, and that accurate study records are maintained.
As part of your work experience you will get the opportunity to help assist with the administration involved in setting up of studies, potentially being involved in promotional work, and helping mail out about studies. Please note that we are not involved in lab-based research, and this placement will be office/clinical based.
For more information and to gain an understanding of our team, please check our trust web site and the NIHR website: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/