2024 UKCRF Network annual conference
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On Thursday 4 and Friday 5 July 2024, members of the NIHR Sheffield CRF team attended the 19th UK Clinical Research Facility (UKCRF) Network annual conference in Leicester.
The focus of this year's conference was “making the invisible, visible: addressing unequal access to clinical research”, highlighting healthcare disparities and illuminates the invisible barriers that hinder diverse participation in clinical research. Looking at confronting the challenges in reaching underrepresented communities and explore innovative strategies for inclusivity.
To find out more about the UKCRF Network, visit the UKCRF Network website.
NIHR Sheffield CRF conference posters
A number of our team members presented posters on various topics at the conference and these posters are shown below.
86.Breaking down the barriers - Unveiling Diversity Enhancing Clinical Research Participation in Sheffield.pdfConference poster titled 'unveiling diversity: enhancing clinical research participation in Sheffield'
15.Inspiring Others - An eLearning Programme to Raise Research Awareness.pdfConference poster titled 'raising research awareness'
50.Collaborative research - No decision about me without me.pdfConference poster titled ' 'No decision about me without me' using arts-based research approaches to EDI with under-served communities'
87.Breaking down the barriers - Inclusive Research improve accessibility to clinical research trials for people with learning disabilities and or autism.pdfConference poster titled 'inclusive research; how Sheffield Teaching Hospitals principal investigators can improve accessibility to clinical research trials for people with learning disabilities and/or autism'
Conference attendee feedback
Our staff enjoyed the conference and found the speakers, focus and sessions informative and enjoyable. The conference is a great way to build on relationships with staff from other CRFs in the UK. Some of our staff share their experiences of the event below.
A lack of diversity among research participants has serious ethical and research consequences, including impeding the ability to generalise study results, make medical advancements of effective therapies, and preventing some populations from experiencing the benefits of research innovations.
Attendance at the UK Clinical Research Facility Network conference in July 2024 was a fabulous opportunity for me to showcase the pioneering work we are undertaking here in Sheffield on improving diversity in clinical research participation to reflect our community. Networking with research colleagues from across the country, I’ve come away absolutely inspired with lots of fabulous ideas for how to better engage with our communities to build collaborative, trusting relationships to improve access to research for everybody in Sheffield and our wider community.
In his keynote speech, Ivan Browne emphasised the need for us to think and act like we are part of the community, not just an institution which I found to be a very powerful message to take forward in our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) work. He explained that different communities will engage differently with different approaches and these differing needs need to be considered in communication strategies, e.g. communities that have very strong oral traditions will be much more interested in face-to-face sessions with opportunities to ask questions and see trusted faces.
Rikki Titheridge, Operations Manager
Unsurprisingly, outside of the plenary talks, my time at the UK Clinical Research Facility Network conference in July 2024 was laboratory focused. During the morning on the second day, I attended the workshop on NCVR (National Contract Value Review) costings for labs. This focused on the principles of completing an NCVR and recognising which tariffs can and can’t be levied and when to apply them. A lot of work has gone into this from a lab perspective to allow for accurate charging for pre-analytical processing and will help remove the discrepancies currently found between different sites when calculating costs.
I then delivered the afternoon lab session focusing on identifying essential equipment for labs, understanding suppliers and recommended equipment, as well as understanding the principles of an environmentally sustainable lab. A few of our research nurses attended this session and found it incredibly useful (and thanks to them for the moral support)!
It was good to catch up with the other lab managers and former colleagues whilst I was there too and I got some great ideas on how to improve a few things within our labs (watch this space).
Kim Driver, Lab Manager
This was the first time I attended the UKCRF Network conference, and it proved to be a brilliant opportunity to network and meet the UKCRF Network education group in person.
On day one the morning was dedicated to learning about UKCRF Network and national progress and priorities for 2024-25 with greatest emphasis on reaching under-served groups. Posters from all the work packages were available on the day to highlight current work, including our very own Kim Driver’s and Alex Radford’s in relation to laboratory work and the nurse intensity tool.
The afternoon session initially focused on UKCRF Network staff group sessions. It was a pleasure to join the education leads, to explore opportunities in education for sharing best practice. The conference also launched the latest UKCRF Network induction booklet. We encourage all new registered nurses to complete this.
There were lots of inspiring ideas on how inductions and training was being developed throughout the country. It was reassuring that at Sheffield we already have robust systems in place to support staff.
Further sessions on recruiting underserved populations continued in the afternoon. All providing inspiring ideas on how these populations can be reached with the right resources and willingness to be flexible and think outside the box.
The importance of involving participants and carers/parents in the entire research process was evident. It was particularly interesting to observe how this worked in the USA in a remote farming community, where the challenges were immense.
Overall the day was also a great team bonding experience and I’m grateful for the opportunity and hope this can be shared with more members of our team next year.
Helen Wollff, Clinical Research Training & Education Lead
This was the first time I had attended the UKCRF Network conference and from what my colleagues told me I was in for a treat! Well, what an amazing experience this was - I learnt so much! The guest speakers were fantastic, and each had highly informative and valuable contributions. Highlights for me were Ivan Browne talking about his work in public health and engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. He stressed the importance of engaging with communities in their residential areas. He explained how bringing COVID-19 vaccination services to easily accessible mosques, community centres and churches in these communities, they saw a greater uptake of vaccinations in these areas. There was also greater uptake when going door to door to offer the services. The idea is these communities are not ‘hard to reach’ if we engage with and take our pop-up clinics with us. I found his entire talk very inspiring.
Additionally, I thoroughly enjoyed the ‘International Nursing Showcase’ and ‘Understanding the Research Engagement Network: Their impact and potential for collaboration with CRFs’ summer school sessions. It was interesting to hear from guest speakers from the USA, to understand how their healthcare systems work and what projects they have undertaken. It was also brilliant to support our Sheffield CRF colleagues whilst delivering their presentations.
There was a poster contest at the conference, each poster designed and produced by different CRF teams. It was an honour to have a poster displayed at the conference to demonstrate work our CRF is doing at present. We are creating a training package for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals (STH) researchers to include people with learning disabilities and autism in their clinical trials. There were many posters to review and vote for and again so much to learn about. My favourite poster outlined the challenges recruiting patients to clinical trials and depending on the clinical trial, the adaptation of recruitment strategies to facilitate recruitment. I can use these strategies and adapt them to my own clinical research practice.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed going to and being a part of UKCRF Network conference 2024. It was an honour and a privilege to attend, and I have been sharing the valuable experience gained with my colleagues. I am so proud to be part of the NIHR Sheffield CRF team. Roll on next year!
Sarah Johnson, Research Nurse
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