CTM UHB has a very active and varied commercial and non-commercial research portfolio supported by a dedicated research service. Research activity is undertaken at all three Acute Hospital Sites, at Community Hospitals and in Primary care, across all specialties and professions.
Specialities with a track record in delivering commercial research include Cardiology, Dermatology and Primary Care. The R&D Team are supporting research active colleagues in Rheumatology, Medicine (neurology), Endocrinology, ENT, Dietetics, Physiotherapy, Gynaecology and Psychiatry (Dementia) to develop their commercial research portfolios.
CTM UHB has extensive experience of working with other Health Boards as part of the ‘One Wales’ and regional hub-and-spoke approaches to research set-up. The R&D Team are experienced in the use of the NIHR Interactive Costing Tool (iCT) and National Contract Value Review (NCVR) process and work in line with national model contracts. The team are engaged in national forums in order to keep abreast of national developments and improvements. The R&D Department has procured the Florence system for electronic site files.
As a research active organisation, we are in a unique position of collaborating and sharing resources with several academic partners to include Cardiff, Swansea, Cardiff Metropolitan, Trinity St Davids and the Open Universities and the University of South Wales. Utilising existing relationships with our academic partners provides an opportunity to optimise research referral and recruitment, e.g. The Allied Clinical Health Club at Cardiff Metropolitan University provides a range of clinical services which includes podiatry, musculoskeletal assessment and treatment, nail surgery, a physiotherapy led injury clinic, dietetics clinic, and speech and language therapy clinics. Academic partners can also contribute to the delivery of commercial interventional research through the provision of support services e.g. the DXA Scanning Service at the University of South Wales.
CTM UHB consistently meets recruitment targets, with 100% studies recruiting to target at study closure. The organisation has an excellent reputation for researching medical devices, contributing the highest number of recruits for the RAPTURE study in the UK and highest recruiter in Wales for the FALCON study during the Covid pandemic.
Key research strengths include Cardio-vascular (heart failure, Stroke), Anaesthetics / Intensive Care Medicine, Public Health, CAMHS, Rheumatology, Gastroenterology, Biomarkers, Cancer, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Surgery, Endocrinology, Maternity, Medical Devices, Dermatology, Sports Medicine /Podiatry, Dietetics and Workforce and Peoples services. We are constantly striving to increase our research portfolio and expand into additional clinical areas.
An evaluation undertaken in 2024 confirmed that participants recruited to R&D delivery supported research studies in secondary care in CTM UHB were representative of CTM’s population in terms of age, gender and deprivation quintile.