High quality, well designed and expertly delivered research is essential to the provision of the best, evidence-based care for all our Trust populations. There is a wide range of help and advice available to support you designing and conducting a research project, but we would encourage you to simply get in touch with us to discuss your ideas or projects as early as possible. There is a wealth of research experience in the Department that can be drawn upon to help you to the successful completion of your project from idea to impact.
The first step is to define your idea and methodology. It is often useful to undertake a literature review to ensure that the research has not been done before and help you build an evidence base for your project's aims and objectives; Trust Library Services can help with this. It is important to ensure that your project is clearly defined and not too wide ranging in scope; it is very easy for research questions to snowball and become challenging to deliver successfully. A peer review of your protocol can help with this: Trust R&I and the Research Design Service can help with this (the RDS have a leaflet containing further useful information) so get in touch as soon as possible.
We can also provide support and advice on how to cost your research and gain early feedback from clinical and delivery experts; and put you in touch with the local clinical research network 'Early Contact and Engagement Service' via studysupport.crnwestmidlands@nihr.ac.uk who it is also a good idea to speak to as early as possible. More information can also be found on their website.
It is also increasingly important to plan how you will disseminate the outcomes of your research, to both your research participants and the wider community, and then demonstrate how you have engaged and listened to the patient experience of your chosen research area and how you have used this to inform your research question and design. True co-production of research can seem a daunting task, but it adds relevance and richness to research and it is a Trust expectation that it is a part of your project. Our PPIE for Research team can help facilitate this (as can the Research Design Service and WMCRN), please contact them at ppie-r@mpft.nhs.uk as soon as possible.
The Trust also supports a wide range of service evaluation projects (should your project not be classified as research); for more information on this activity and the support available please see the Service Evaluation page.
If you have any questions, please contact the Research and Innovation department on 01785 783180 or research@mpft.nhs.uk