National Institute for Health and Care Research visits Sheffield Children’s

Sheffield Children’s was delighted to welcome colleagues from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Department of Health and Social Care last week.

As the UK’s only NIHR Commercial Research Delivery Centre (CRDC) dedicated to the delivery of commercial trials treating children and young people, the visit was an exciting opportunity to showcase the progress made since the CRDC launched on 1 April.

Funded by the NIHR, CRDCs are designed to speed up and streamline commercial clinical research, helping the UK lead the way in bringing new treatments to patients faster.

Gillian Gatenby, Deputy Director of the NIHR Sheffield Children’s CRDC, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the team to Sheffield Children’s. Evidence shows that research-active hospitals have better outcomes for patients, and here at Sheffield Children’s, research isn’t an added extra – it’s central to how we improve lives and create healthier futures for children and young people.

“Through the CRDC we’ll be able to offer more commercial trials across a range of specialties, giving patients greater opportunities to access life-changing treatments and therapies more quickly than they otherwise would.”

Clinical trials are a vital piece in the puzzle of creating new treatments. They allow researchers to test new medicines or explore the use of existing medicines in different ways.

The NIHR Sheffield Children’s CRDC is building on more than 16 years of commercial trial work that has taken place in Sheffield Children’s Hospital’s Clinical Research Facility (CRF). There are currently over 300 research studies active at Sheffield Children’s, across a wide range of specialties.

The NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research.

Working in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other funders and the public, the Department of Health and Social Care funds, enables and delivers world-leading health and social care research that improves health and wellbeing and promotes economic growth.

You can find out more about the NIHR Sheffield Children’s CRDC here.