So you've come to find out more about medical research?

Medical research may also be referred to as clinical research, healthcare research or health and social care research.

The research currently taking place in NHS Grampian covers a wide variety of projects/studies, including clinical trials.

The aim of clinical research is to improve healthcare. This might be done by discovering information on health conditions, working with new medicines or on new medical devices.

Please take a look at our short animation video to find out a bit more about medical research.

People take part in medical research for many reasons. They may want to try a new medicine or help other people. The reason can depend on the type of research and a person’s own experience.

For more information, we have videos which explain why people in NHS Grampian decided to take part in medical research -from participants and staff.

The purpose of NHS Grampian is to:

• improve the health of people in the North East of Scotland and beyond
• provide high quality services for its patients
• help people choose the best way to look after their health

Medical research projects are essential to develop new, more efficient, ways to treat patients.
There are research projects available in many different health areas and conditions.
Our section on research studies currently recruiting in Grampian can give you more information.
We also have videos from NHS staff discussing this topic from their own experience.

A Participant Information Sheet (PIS) provides detailed information about a study. The PIS will let you know what the study is about, what you can expect during it and if there are any risks or benefits in taking part. It will also give you the contact information for the people who can answer your questions about the study.

It is important to remember that you are a volunteer and you can leave the study at any time, if you wish to do so, without your clinical care being affected in any way.

If you want to take part in a research project, you will be asked to give informed consent.

This means that you have been given information about the study, understood the information given, have been given time to think about it and have had your questions answered.

Lots of different people get invited to take part in research. Some research projects look at helping patients with a specific illness or condition, while others ask for healthy volunteers to participate. If you have not been invited to take part in a research study, but would like to, then take a look at our section "Trials Near You" to see what research projects are currently available.

You can find out more information by watching our videos on how participants found out about a research project and how our staff invite people to take part in research projects.

Many people, who are invited to take part in a research project, ask their GP, family or friends for advice. The Patient Advice and Support Service (PASS) can be asked as well.

Our videos can give you some ideas of things to think about and consider about before deciding whether to take part.

Research projects are carefully checked over, before they can start. Part of these checks involves a review from an ethics committee. If the research involves the NHS, then a NHS Research Ethics committee looks at it. The job of an ethics committee, particularly in the NHS, is to protect and promote the interests of patients and healthy volunteers taking part to health and social care research. In addition to the Ethics Review, the NHS carries out its own review, to make sure that the study can take place within the NHS.

Taking part in medical research does not affect the standard of clinical care you receive, which will continue after the study is finished.

Once a study is finished, the information gathered, also known as ‘data’, will be carefully considered to decide what should be done next. Often, this data is published in an academic journal, and used as evidence to support future research. Any information collected from the participants during the trial will be stored safely and will not be identifiable. Research studies should be listed on a public database, so you and other members of the public, can keep track of what is happening.

Participant information sheets should contain information about what will happen after the study is finished. If you have taken part in a study and have questions about what will happen next, you can use the contact details for your research team, available on your participant information sheet.

You can watch videos from our participants, which explain what has happened to them since taking part and what they would tell friends about their experience.

There can be benefits to individuals who take part in a research project.

Patients involved in medical research may:

• Have access to medicines which are not commonly available
• Have more visits with doctors and their clinical research team
• Help the researchers to discover information about new medicines or procedures

However, there can also be risks and disadvantages when taking part in medical research:

• You may have to attend additional visits for the research
• You may have to stop taking medicines that you have been taking for a long time
• New medicines or different procedures may cause you to feel unwell (though this should always be reported to your research team, so they can assess and help you)

You should therefore think carefully about possible benefits and/or risks. The risks and benefits can depend on the type of research you are involved in, and they will be fully explained to you, before you agree to take part.

We have videos available to explain some of the benefits and challenges involved in medical research from staff and participant experiences.