Researchers from a West Midlands healthcare Trust have been named as the best in the region – after scooping a prestigious award for their dedication and hard work.
The Research and Development Team, from Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust (SWBH) were given the Best Overall Performance accolade in the Clinical Research Network (CRN) West Midlands awards ceremony held on Thursday (4 October).
Professor Karim Raza, Director of Research and Development (R&D) at the Trust, said: "This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of R&D staff and other researchers at SWBH. The Trust Board has been particularly supportive of R&D at SWBH recognising the enormous benefits that a vibrant research environment has for the patients we serve and for our staff - we look forward to building on this success and developing further over the next few years"
Zaida Khalil, Research and Governance Manager at the Trust, added: “We were nominated by the CRN senior leadership team and this in itself was an honour. To win the award is a real privilege and it acknowledges the brilliant work that the Research and Development team and our investigators are carrying out at the Trust. This raises our profile not just within the West Midlands but also nationally. We intend to continue with this work and are grateful for the recognition we have received.”
The award is described by the CRN as a special one and a very difficult one to judge, which is there to acknowledge the organisation which has worked most closely with the network in terms of contribution to its overall joint objectives, and engaging with the teams.
The citation said of the Trust: “This organisation has been consistently meeting both their recruitment targets and their activity based funding targets, and is one of the best at keeping its data up-to-date, despite staff changes and shortages. They are very engaged with the network's teams and work well with the study support team in the network to ensure that the studies are set up quickly and efficiently.”
Professor Jeremy Kirk, Clinical Director for the CRN, said: “These awards showcase the commitment of individuals and teams throughout the region to giving people the opportunity to take part in research. We received many outstanding nominations this year and offer warmest congratulations to all our winners.”
