RAND Europe was commissioned by The Healthcare Improvement Studies (THIS) Institute to conduct a rapid review of the evidence base on engaging NHS staff in healthcare research. The review contributes to the knowledge base about how to support effective healthcare staff engagement in research.

Cover: Enabling NHS staff to contribute to research
Read Online

Enabling NHS staff to contribute to research

Reflecting on current practice and informing future opportunities

by Sashka Dimova, Rob Prideaux, Sarah Ball, Amelia Harshfield, Asha Carpenter, Sonja Marjanovic

Download eBook for Free

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 0.8 MB

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

Research Questions

  1. Why do NHS staff engage with research?
  2. How do NHS staff engage with research?
  3. What are the challenges to NHS staff involvement in research and how can they be addressed so that contributions are effectively enabled and rewarded?
  4. What is the impact of engaging NHS staff in healthcare research?

RAND Europe was commissioned by The Healthcare Improvement Studies (THIS) Institute to conduct a rapid review of the evidence base on engaging NHS staff in healthcare research. The review aims to help inform THIS Institute's efforts to establish and implement an effective strategy for engaging staff across the NHS with its research activities. The report will also be useful for other organisations and initiatives seeking to engage NHS staff in research.

The report is focused on a diverse NHS workforce that is directly or indirectly involved with care delivery, including individuals in clinical, managerial, administrative and support roles. The terms NHS staff, healthcare professionals and NHS workforce are used interchangeably throughout this report.

Staff across the NHS have important expertise to contribute to healthcare research. However, they also face competing demands on their time, not least delivering patient care. Any efforts to mobilise wide-scale NHS workforce engagement with improvement research need to understand what motivates staff to engage with research; to consider staff constraints; and to establish practical and rewarding mechanisms for harnessing their expertise, commitment to high-quality and safe patient care, and interest in evidence-based practice.

Key Findings

  • NHS staff choose to engage with research for a variety of reasons, including: (i) personal interest in a research or evaluation topic; (ii) cultural expectations in some clinical disciplines that involvement in research is part of the job; (iii) a belief that research and evidence can improve the quality and safety of healthcare and patient outcomes; (iv) a positive prior experience with research; and (v) prospects for career development.
  • NHS staff can contribute to research in a variety of ways (e.g. responding to requests for views or for advice, in advisory board roles or as members of clinical research networks, as co-researchers or members of project steering committees).
  • While there are a range of challenges to effective NHS staff engagement with research (e.g. time-related, skills-related, organisational governance-related), there is an evolving evidence base on enabling mechanisms and rewards that could be pursued. The rewards for engagement that matter most to NHS staff include career progression and professional development opportunities related to learning new skills, recognition in professional communities and reputational awards, and seeing the impact of their research contributions on clinical practice.
  • Key impacts from NHS involvement in research include impact on research studies (e.g. on identifying research priorities, on the quality and relevance of study designs, on influential communications and dissemination); impact on the wider research system (e.g. attracting funding); influence on clinical practice (e.g. promoting the uptake of evidence) and personal impact (e.g. professional development and career progression).

Recommendations

  • Identify the most meaningful types of contribution on a case-by-case basis.
  • Ensure that research roles and responsibilities are clear and well defined.
  • Frame opportunities for involvement in a way that aligns with what motivates NHS staff to engage with health research.
  • Consider how best to use established and trusted professional networks, in combination with online or other types of direct awareness-raising and recruitment.
  • Make engagement opportunities user friendly.
  • Establish and nurture relationships with leadership in healthcare provider organisations
  • Ensure that opportunities to recognise and reward involvement in research are created and communicated to healthcare professionals.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter One

    Background and context: enabling the NHS workforce to contribute to quality improvement through research

  • Chapter Two

    Profile of the reviewed literature

  • Chapter Three

    Why do NHS staff engage with research?

  • Chapter Four

    How do NHS staff engage in research?

  • Chapter Five

    How can the involvement of NHS staff in research be enabled and rewarded?

  • Chapter Six

    Challenges to engaging NHS staff in research

  • Chapter Seven

    What impact does NHS staff engagement have on research?

  • Chapter Eight

    In reflection: key learning points and areas for consideration in future practice

  • Appendix A

    Examples of NHS staff involvement in practice

  • Appendix B

    Study design and methods

Research conducted by

The research described in this report was by commissioned by The Healthcare Improvement Studies (THIS) Institute at the University of Cambridge and conducted by RAND Europe.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.