Trust supports £7m bid for centre
Date of release: 20 January 2025
A £7m bid to establish an “exciting” research centre to expand access to clinical trials and deliver world-class, life-changing treatments has been proudly part driven by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT).
New Cross Hospital, which hosts the West Midlands Regional Delivery Network
RWT, which hosts the West Midlands Regional Delivery Network, together with partners Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust have supported the set-up of one of the UK’s new National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Commercial Research Delivery Centres (CRDCs).
Called the Central and North West Midlands (C&NWM) CRDC and hosted by Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust (BWC), the centre will work closely with Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust and research partners from the Black Country and Birmingham Health Partners (BHP).
Wolverhampton was eligible to host the centre but it decided to collaborate with BWC to maximise the opportunities for local people.
Working closely with local businesses, patient groups and charities, the CRDC will reach across all communities.
People will now be able to join research trials easier, partnering with drug companies to deliver trials in a safe and responsible way.
Professor Lorraine Harper, Managing Director of BHP and Director of the C&NWM CRDC, said: “This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to transform the health outcomes of our communities through world-class clinical research.
“By combining the expertise, resources, and passion of more than 25 clinical and academic partners, we will create a thriving research ecosystem that delivers cutting-edge treatments but also makes clinical trials more accessible to all.”
Pauline Boyle, Group Director of Research at RWT and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for our population to have access to even more world-class clinical research, which will transform health outcomes.”
Innovative approaches such as community-based trial locations, mobile research units, and digital technologies will ensure the CRDC reaches people who have never participated in research.
Public involvement will be central to every stage of the centre’s work.
Home to 4.2 million people, the C&NWM region includes many of the UK’s most economically deprived communities facing significant health inequalities and higher rates of serious illness.
The CRDC will focus on increasing access to clinical trials for patients who have the greatest need – dovetailing with BHP’s strategic focus on addressing health inequalities and giving greater opportunities for residents to participate in research.
Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care, added: “Clinical trials help improve lives.
“Boosting the NHS’s capacity to deliver commercial clinical research through these CRDCs will support recruitment across all communities and bring innovative treatments to patients.”
The 25 partners include the NHS Trusts of Black Country Healthcare, Dudley Integrated, Sandwell and West Birmingham, The Dudley Group, Walsall Healthcare and NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board.
Twenty CRDCs are being established across the UK as part of a £72m investment over seven years, beginning this April.
ENDS
- For further information, please call Tim Nash on 07714 741097 or email tim.nash2@nhs.net
