Research is an important part of our commitment to constantly improve and offer the best treatment options for our patients. November is CHFT Research Month, where we encourage colleagues to share our Research Team's ambition to deliver excellent outcomes and patient care through research, that not only advances science but enhances our services, promotes economic growth and ultimately, enhances the health and wellbeing of our population.

The Trust’s Research Strategy encourages all clinicians, nurses, midwives and healthcare professionals (NMAHPs) to embed research in every-day practice and participate in high quality clinical trials.

Research Month is about trying to move the focus from clinical research trials to those important research studies that our NMAHPs are doing in their clinical areas. As part of this, the very first Self-Assessment of Organisational Readiness Tool (SORT) survey is available.

SORT is a self-administered 'research readiness' tool  which provides metrics on nursing, midwifery and AHP-led research. The survey will be completed by representatives across divisions and specialties to gather feedback on how CHFT supports research within our NMAHP professions. It will help us identify how well we are supporting NMAHPs to do research at CHFT and will provide useful information to help our Senior management team steer improvements. See below document for more information on SORT.

Colleagues often hear about clinical research but there are a lot of NMAHPs assisting with research in their areas, or leading research at CHFT to improve care. We will be celebrating the excellent work taking place and sharing some examples throughout Research Month. 

Research and Development Lead, Tracy Wood, said: "If you think you have an idea which may be a future research study, reach out to our Research governance team who are able to guide you in the right direction – Email ResAndDev@cht.nhs.uk"

Chief Nurse, Jo Hilton, said: "We often reference 'there’s a leader in everyone' but we want to highlight that everyone can get involved in research."