"Delivering clinical research in the NHS" - the 2010 NIHR Clinical Research Network national conference

"Extremely useful and informative", was how one delegate described the latest NIHR Clinical Research Network national conference which took place at the ExCeL Conference Centre on 28 January.

This year's event was all about delivering clinical research in the NHS and a packed audience of around 500 delegates were present to hear more about how the NIHR Clinical Research Network is supporting delivery, for industry, researchers and most importantly patients in the NHS.

Professor Dame Sally Davies gave the first talk of the day with a keynote speech which reflected on the progress that is continuing to be made by the Clinical Research Network and the National Institute for Health Research towards achieving the goals set out in Best Research for Best Health.

The delivery theme was continued in talks from speakers such as Mr Mike Farrar, CBE, Chief Executive of the North West Strategic Health Authority, and Professor Kathy Rowan from the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre who talked about their experiences of the Network, how it is delivering for researchers and Industry and therefore benefitting patients in the NHS.

The conference was brought to a positive conclusion by science writer and broadcaster Vivienne Parry who ended the day with a thought provoking talk about how the research community should use media and communications to help to support the delivery of clinical trials.

Further information is available from Louise Harvey, Communications Manager at louise.harvey@nihr.ac.uk

Presentations from the conference are available to download below: