MULTICENTER CLINICAL RESPIRATORY RESEARCH - A NEW APPROACH

Background: Recruitment to clinical trials organised by the research c ommittee of the British Thoracic Society (BTS) has declined. We suspec ted that this was due to increasing workloads for consultant physician s in the National Health Service (NHS). We investigated possible cause s in study 1 and a possible solution in study 2. Methods: Study I - a questionnaire was sent to BTS members listing possible factors that mi ght deter them from entering patients into trials. These were scored o n a 0-5 scale. Study 2 we set up 13 panels of experts to cover all maj or fields of respiratory medicine. They were asked to design projects that would address the most important research questions that could be answered by multi-centre clinical trials. We sent 11 projects for sco ring to consultant members of the BTS who were asked to score them on scientific merit and on their ability to contribute patients to the st udy. Results: Study I - of the 59% of consultants who responded, 77% s aid that competition with increasing demands on their time was the maj or reason for not participating. Study 2 - 40% of consultants returned project scores. Three projects were subsequently selected for grant a pplication. Conclusions: Clinical research in the UK is under threat f rom increasing workloads on consultants. One solution to this problem is a national approach to commission major projects. The most importan t clinical research questions might then still be answered in the limi ted time available to consultants.