Being part of research

As a patient or a member of the public, there are ways that you can be part of the research taking place in University Hospitals Bristol and Weston (UHBW).

We aim to offer the chance of taking part in research to as many of our patients as we can. We are working hard to make research as inclusive and accessible as possible.

Taking part as a study/trial participant:

If you are visiting the hospital or your GP to see a clinician about a condition or disease, they may invite you to take part in research. There are usually very strict criteria for taking part and the clinician will check you meet the criteria before going into further detail with you. They may be looking for people of a specific age, or with an exact condition, or certain test results. All these are in place to keep you safe and collect data that will answer the question the research is asking. Do let your doctor know if you are interested in hearing about research that might be relevant to you.

We have a team of researchers who invite healthy volunteers to take part in trials, which are usually for vaccines. The trials take place in our Clinical Research Facility, and also have strict criteria for taking part.

Find out more.

Contributing to research by being involved:

Patients, carers, and members of the public have an important role to play in clinical research, but not only as participants. Roles include contributing to: ideas for new research; the design of a trial; how well a patient information sheet is written; the running of a study; sharing the findings of the research when it is complete.  

There is more information on our website, here.

How we use your information:

If you consent to take part in research, the research team will collect information as part of that study or trial. This information is held by the research team, and all your trial records and any information that is collected about you will be kept confidential, in the same way as your medical records. 

• For most studies, researchers will not link the research data they collect with personal information like your name and address
• If the research requires them to link information together, researchers would explain about that to you at the beginning of the study or trial and obtain your consent to do so
• If you agree to take part in a research study but change your mind, you can leave at any time and do not have to give a reason. If you leave, you can have the standard treatment available for your condition, and your decision will not be held against you.

You can read more about how we use your information, our privacy notice, and donating tissue and samples in the following places:

• How UHBW uses your data – this is the Trust’s main page about how we use information about you. If you scroll down you can read a section about how we use your data for research, called “Improving care through research”.
• How UHBW uses your data and tissue for research – this information includes information specific to research, and also contains a link back to the Trust’s main page above.