Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (OUH) has for the first time met in full a key measure for how quickly clinical trials start.
All trials analysed by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) recruited the first patient within 70 days for the 12 months to this March.
This marks a significant improvement compared with 42 per cent for the 12 months to March last year.
This is the first time that any NHS trust in the group of most research-active NHS Trusts in England has met the 70 day benchmark in full.
Initiation of clinical trials quickly is vital to effectively translate the research findings into health care, to attract commercial research partners and fulfil agreed delivery targets.
Other performance targets such as meeting agreed recruitment targets with commercial partners, known as recruitment to time and target, remain important priorities for further improving OUH’s clinical research performance.
The figures were analysed and reported by the NIHR – which funds research – and marks a significant improvement for the trust.
As well as conducting its own research, the Trust carries out studies with the University of Oxford through the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and NIHR Oxford Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit.