Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (HEFT) has been named as one of the leading West Midlands trusts for the total number of clinical research studies undertaken.

According to figures published in August by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), HEFT is second only to University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) but ahead of the rest of the top five made up of University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, University Hospitals of Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust and The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.

The 2016–17 Research Activity League Table details how much clinical research is happening, where, in what types of trusts, and how many participants are involved. Across England more patients are accessing new treatments, as the number of research participants in clinical trials has increased to 665,000 in a record breaking year.

In the West Midlands, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has seen a 542% increase in the number of people it has recruited to take part in clinical research; West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has seen a 67% increase in the number of studies carried out and Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust carried out 40 more studies than in the previous year.

Professor Jeremy Kirk, Clinical Director for the Clinical Research Network West Midlands, said: “The increase in the number of clinical research participants last year and the improvements we are seeing in studies delivering to time and target are fantastic achievements that are contributing to better health and care outcomes in this country.

“Researchers can be more confident of being able to complete their studies, and more patients will benefit from new and better treatments becoming available.”