NIHR Norfolk CRF

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals (NNUH) is a teaching hospital with 1200 beds and serves 1 million people in Norfolk and the surrounding areas.

The main NNUH hospital building (including the Jenny Lind Children s Hospital) is located on the Norwich Research Park (NRP) alongside other world class research institutes including the Quadram Institute Biosciences (QIB) and the University of East Anglia (UEA). There is also a NNUH hospital in Cromer on the North Norfolk coast.

Hospitals that engage in research have better outcomes for patients. NNUH has an established and growing research community.

There has been a purpose-built Clinical Research Facility (CRF) housed in the Quadram Institute since 2018, these facilities are state of the art and will form part of new National Institute of Health Research Clinical Research Facility for Norfolk (NIHR CRF Norfolk), together with other Clinical Research Facilities located in the main hospital including the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Through funding that supports the NIHR CRF Norfolk, we will increase our ability to carry out early-stage clinical research that involves patients and healthy volunteers and is aimed at better understanding the causes of disease and developing better ways of diagnosis and treatment. We will also work to provide equitable access to research for patients.

We will develop areas of research of high importance to NNUH and to Norfolk and support areas of research excellence and scientific strengths (such as neonatal and microbiome research) aligned with the goals of our Research Strategy 2020-2025 which are to: embed a culture of research throughout NNUH; consolidate and deepen the partnerships that we have with other organisations on the Norwich Research Park; develop new and sustainable partnerships with other organisations where these partnerships are critical to the region and the wider NHS; become recognised as a leading NHS Trust in carrying out research and delivering benefits for patients.

We will develop the NIHR Norfolk CRF in stages: by embedding NIHR CRF Norfolk into the existing the UK CRF network and becoming a fully contributory member and demonstrating excellence and efficiency in the delivery of early phase research.

We will engage with patients and promote equitable access to opportunities for participation in research (including research carried out at the Cromer Hospital). We will develop a highly skilled workforce by providing opportunities for professional development.

We will ensure the NIHR CRF Norfolk is attractive as a facility and is used by researchers on the Norwich Research Park and more widely.

This will include other organisations (NHS, non-NHS, non-commercial and commercial) and overall increase the level early phase clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of new treatment approaches and diagnostic methods.

We will track our progress using metrics e.g. number of participants recruited into clinical research and where those participants live, scientific outputs (e.g. publication of new papers describing the research findings in medical and scientific journals peer reviewed by experts in the field) and the amount of new research funding attracted from external organisations.