Recruiting host sites and PICs

Recruitment of sites and Participant Identification Centres (PICs)¹ for your project may take place in parallel with gaining your R&D & REC approvals depending on the study.

Give yourself plenty of time to recruit your sites, particularly if you need multiple GP practices. Practices may need to discuss your study at a practice meeting, which can take a month or more, particularly at busy times such as flu season.

Before approaching your potential sites you may wish to think about how you are going to “sell” your study to your sites. Involvement of a collaborator who works within your clinical setting such as a GP or therapist at the design stage can help you with this. It is good practice to meet with your sites to discuss in person what will be involved for them.

If your study is adopted onto the national portfolio the PCRN can assist you with the recruitment of host sites and PICs and help you with the presentation of your study to your potential sites. For further information please contact the PCRN facilitator.

The R&D office at NHS Norfolk need to be kept updated with recruitment of sites to your study as this may have implications for funding

The NHS Norfolk Guide for Researchers in Primary Care gives more detail about running studies in Primary Care and details good practice in working with general practices, but will also be of use to those working in non-GP settings.

Information to be supplied to sites and PICs

All Sites and Participant Identification Centres should be provided with a study file for your study. This should include as a minimum:

• Approved study protocol
• Approved participant information sheets / consent forms
• Other approved participant information (posters, invitation letters, questionnaires) relevant to the site
• A copy of all approval and permission letters relevant to that site including Research Ethics Committee Approval and NHS Permission letters
• A copy of the standard terms and conditions of NHS Permission
• Indemnity Certificates

This file must be kept up to date with all amendments.

If you require sites to provide you with information from participant notes for patients recruited through another site (secondary care for example), you must have gained patient consent for this and provide a copy of the signed consent form for the participant to demonstrate that the patient has consented to the release of this information for research purposes.