A state-of-the-art clinical research facility is to be built by a hospital trust after it secured £1m to fund the pioneering hub.
Hampshire Hospitals is to install the dedicated research facility at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital – enabling the trust to deliver more clinical research studies than ever before alongside more complex research trials.
Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital
Such pioneering research across a range of specialties, says the NHS, will help improve patient outcomes by accelerating their access to innovative treatments.
Funding for the purpose-build facility, which will be the first of its kind in North Hampshire dedicated solely to clinical research, has been secured thanks to a grant application to the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the UK’s largest funder of health and care research.
Construction is expected to start this summer.
The Research Hub will enable more clinical trials to take place among patients
Dr Ruth Williamson, chief medical officer for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are delighted that we have been granted funding to build this fantastic new research hub.
“Having space dedicated to clinical research will make it easier and more comfortable for our patients to participate in studies designed to improve healthcare. It also means our staff will be able to focus all their attention on providing high quality care to our study participants.”
Natasha Chigbo, associate director of research and development at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, added: “By creating a purpose-built environment for our research activity, we will be able to increase participation in studies, attract new research opportunities and support more complex and innovative trials, which is really exciting.
“This project, says the NHS trust, marks another important step in its commitment to ‘embedding research and innovation at the heart of patient care’.”