NIHR Comprehensive Clinical Research Network
The National
Institute for Health Research Comprehensive Clinical Research
Network (NIHR CCRN) works with the six Topic Specific Clinical Research
Networks and the Primary Care
Research Network to support a high quality national
portfolio of clinical trials and other well-designed studies.
The NIHR CCRN aims to ensure that patients and
healthcare professionals from all parts of the country and from all
areas of healthcare can take part in and benefit from clinical
research. It will achieve this by:
- establishing and funding an excellent clinical research
infrastructure to support a high quality portfolio of clinical
research studies and aid patient participation in studies
- providing NHS Service Support Costs which were previously
provided through other NHS R&D funding streams
- providing and deploying resources for research management in
order to ensure that the research portfolio is delivered to the
highest standards of research governance.
The NIHR CCRN consists of a number of Comprehensive
Local Research Networks (CLRNs) which will be managed locally
and will support participation in the national portfolio of UKCRN
studies.
Implementation of the NIHR CCRN began in April
2007 and will take place over a two-year period. The UKCRN
Coordinating Centre has been tasked with overseeing this process,
and the Department of Health has developed a detailed
Implementation
Plan which is updated on a regular basis.
The UKCRN Coordinating Centre has identified a provisional list of
ongoing clinical research studies that may be eligible for
Comprehensive Research Network support, in topics which have not
already been covered by the Topic Specific and Primary Care
Research Networks. These have been added to the UKCRN
Portfolio Database, listed
by disease area/topic using the classification codes used in the
UKCRC Health Research Analysis. Work will be carried out
between April and September to confirm the eligibility of these
studies.