Embedding research into routine cardiac clinical practice: a single-centre experience from the United Kingdom

Embedding research into routine clinical practice is a key priority for the National Health Service across the United Kingdom, with the aim of improving patient outcomes, enhancing staff engagement and increasing research activity across clinical services. However, integrating research alongside service delivery remains challenging due to clinical time pressures, workforce constraints and variable research culture.

This abstract aimed to describe a single-centre experience of embedding research within routine clinical practice and evaluate its impact on research activity and clinical staff engagement.

A service development approach was undertaken at a single cardiac centre to integrate research activities into routine clinical workflows. Key interventions included the identification of clinical research champions, incorporation of research discussions into multidisciplinary team meetings and staff appraisals, collaboration with research teams and targeted training for clinical staff. Data were prospectively collected and included metrics such as patient screening and recruitment rates, number of active studies, staff engagement with research activities and qualitative feedback from clinicians. Descriptive statistics were utilised to analyse the data.

After one year of implementation, there was an increase in the number of patients screened and recruited into research studies compared with the pre-implementation period. We were recognised as the highest recruiter in two of the multicentre randomised controlled trials run in the department. The number of active studies supported within the service increased (from n=0 to n=12) and staff engagement with research activities improved as demonstrated by increased in the number of participants in the Associate Principal Investigator scheme (from n=0 to n=17) and research fellowship/internship (from n=1 to n=6). Further, there was an increased in the number of staff (from n=3 (1%) to n=30 (10%)) identifying research as part of their development in their appraisals. Overall, staff feedback highlighted improved awareness of research opportunities, greater confidence in discussing research with patients and perceived benefits to patient care. Key enablers included strong clinical leadership, integration of research into existing workflows, availability of clinical academics, visibility of research champions and ongoing staff support. No adverse impact on routine clinical activity was identified.

This single-centre experience demonstrates that embedding research into routine clinical practice is feasible and can lead to increased research activity even in an area without a dedicated research team. Further, it improved staff engagement without compromising service delivery. This model may be transferable to other clinical settings aiming to strengthen research culture and delivery at the point of care.