UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Units

Patients & Public

UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Units are organisations which have expertise in developing and coordinating multi-centre clinical trials and other well-designed studies.

This site is an information resource providing details about the UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Units. It is aimed primarily at investigators based in the NHS, academia and industry who wish to develop new clinical trials or are seeking advice and assistance for their clinical research project.

UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Units do not directly recruit participants into the clinical trials they coordinate; instead they develop links with investigators (for example, specialists and GPs) throughout the UK who are able to identify potential participants who might be interested in taking part in clinical trials.

Understanding Clinical Trials
The UK Clinical Research Collaboration has produced a booklet on Understanding Clinical Trials, and a leaflet called Clinical Trials: What they are and what they're not. They are designed to answer the many questions people may have when deciding whether to take part in a trial.

Interested in participating in a clinical trial?
If you are interested in participating in a clinical trial, you should contact your specialist or GP. Your specialist or GP will have detailed information about your current health and medical history and will be able to discuss options with you and advise if you are likely to be eligible for a clinical trial.

UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Units do not have access to this detailed information about you and cannot advise whether you could take part in one of their trials. Therefore, please do not contact the UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Units directly.

Other ways to get involved in clinical research
People can get involved in clinical research in a wide variety of ways. In addition to volunteering to participate in a clinical trial, they may get involved in the development of the research, for example by working with researchers to design research studies. For further information about patient and public involvement in clinical research, the following resources may be useful:

INVOLVE
INVOLVE is a national advisory Group, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, which aims to promote and support active public involvement in NHS, public health and social care research.
People in Research
The People in Research website aims to help members of the public make contact with organisations that want to actively involve them in clinical research.
Getting Involved in Clinical Research
For a brief introduction to clinical research and information about some of the activities that patients and the public may be asked to take part in, download the UKCRN Getting Involved in Clinical Research leaflet.