While you are in clinical areas in our hospitals, our staff may ask if you would like to be involved in research. We are fortunate to have some of the best research doctors, nurses and allied health professionals in the country working here who together have around 900 active trials running every year.
If you have not been asked, but are keen to find out if you can take part, please speak to the clinical team caring for you. It’s OK to ask!
Clinical trials, also called research studies, can generally be divided into two types:
- An observational study – usually when a researcher is specifically observing the effects of a course of treatment.
- An interventional study – when a researcher provides a course of treatment to a patient. This could be medicine, performing a specific procedure or using new devices or equipment.
We need both patients and healthy volunteers to take part in our clinical trials.
You will be able to take part in a clinical trial if you meet the inclusion criteria. This means you have been identified as eligible because the trial may best help someone like you.
To help you decide whether you want to take part, a member of the research team will explain to you what the study involves. They will also give you a patient information sheet (PIS) or patient information leaflet (PIL) and some time to think it over and speak with your family. You are under no obligation to give consent (say yes), and your standard care will not be affected if you decide not to take part. You may also stop participating in a trial at any time if you no longer wish to be included in the research.
Find out what previous participants in our clinical trials thought of their experiences of research through our Patient Research Experience Survey dashboard.
