Are current ways of delivering trials working
We hear from industry and government that they want to run more commercial research in the UK — but are the current ways of delivering trials in general practice actually working?
Practices want to participate, but uncertainty over time, training, and return on investment can make it hard to commit. Setting up a study can be slow and costly: contracting with multiple practices, navigating monitoring visits, training staff, and managing IMP logistics all add friction.
I recently heard of a study where 300 practices competed for just 15 places — a striking example of inefficiency and duplication. It’s easy to see why practices might feel disenheartened. Some practices despite investing in kit and rooms and training have yet to do a study.
My plan is to give some of my thoughts on how we could make commercial trials in primary care faster to setup, more efficient, higher quality and genuinely collaborative — covering workforce, data, AI, IMP logistics, training, and network models.
I’d love to hear your experiences: have you tried and struggled, invested effort without payoff, or found ways to make it work? Or do you work for a Sponsor or CRO that is keen to try new ways of working (some are!)