Using data to enable growth of research capability and capacity: a retrospective longitudinal analysis of gastroenterology and hepatology research participation across secondary and tertiary healthcare settings within England

ObjectiveParticipation in clinical research confers tangible benefits for patients and healthcare organisations. Achieving adequate and representative recruitment into studies remains challenging, and variable recruitment rates between different hospitals and studies are well-known challenges. This study aims to characterise recruitment patterns across England’s secondary and tertiary care National Health Service (NHS) Trusts registered on the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) portfolio.Design/methodRecruitment data submitted to the NIHR portfolio was extracted for all Gastroenterology and Hepatology studies that were actively recruiting between the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2024. All NHS Trusts within the UK were categorised into either secondary or tertiary care hospitals. We evaluated recruitment patterns, study distribution and temporal trends, comparing performance between secondary and tertiary sites, subspecialties and study designs.ResultsOf 346 hospital sites involved in study recruitment, 262 (76%) were secondary care hospitals and 84 (24%) were tertiary centres. A total of 853 studies were identified, with 485 (57%) being Gastroenterology-specific studies, recruiting 1 92 800 patients (79%), while Hepatology had 368 (43%) studies, recruiting 48 800 (21%) patients. Recruitment into Gastroenterology-specific studies was equally distributed between secondary and tertiary sites (51:49, p=0.69). 71% (p<0.01) of recruitment into Hepatology studies came from tertiary sites.ConclusionWhile Gastroenterology-specific studies showed similar recruitment volumes between secondary and tertiary care, recruitment into Hepatology studies remained predominantly from tertiary centres. Future work should focus on building Gastroenterology and Hepatology research delivery capability and capacity, while aligning with the recommendations from the Lord O’Shaughnessy report.