The number of people participating in trials has increased following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Unfortunately there has been a recent decline in the number of people participating. Some of this maybe due to increased clinical workload and staff shortages.
Awareness of research and clinical trials in radiotherapy
January 2025
As we prepare to release our information video about research and clinical trials in radiotherapy, we wanted to understand current awareness and understanding about radiotherapy clinical trials. This will help evaluate the impact of the video once it is published.
We worked with colleagues from radiotherapy networks across the country to develop a survey which was open to anyone in England from 2nd to 20th December 2024.
Thank you to everyone who completed the survey, and helped us to share. We received a fantastic 286 responses.*
*Note: 6 respondents did not confirm whether they were a patient, member of the public or a health professional.
Responses to the survey found that awareness of clinical trials in healthcare was high with 98% of health professional, 69% of members of the public and 57% of patients confirming that they were aware of opportunities to take part in clinical trials in healthcare.
Proportionately, awareness was highest (77.3%) in respondents in the 20-39 year old age group, and lower (50%) in the over 80 year old age group.
Awareness of clinical trials in radiotherapy specifically was lower in all respondents than in healthcare generally.
Awareness was greatest in health professionals with 69% confirming they were aware of opportunities to take part in clinical trials in radiotherapy. Only 17% of members of the public and 27% of patients were aware of opportunities to take part in clinical trials in radiotherapy.
This data highlights the importance of the work we are doing to increase awareness of clinical trials. Further information and analysis of the data will be available in due course.
Find out more about this project below.
improving access to information about research and trials
We want to drive improvements in radiotherapy treatments and techniques through research and clinical trials.
To help us do this, we recognise the need to raise awareness of radiotherapy research and clinical trials and reduce the barriers for participation.
We talked to patients and clinicians about how to do this and a video was suggested as a useful resource to provide information and raise awareness about research and trials.
We worked with patients and staff to co-produce a video. Over 40 people across the country contacted us to be part of a focus group to agree what should be included in the video.
Our first focus group was held online on 23rd May 2024 and was attended by 7 people from the Midlands, North East and London. They shared their views about what should be included in a video about research, and how to make this as relevant and inclusive as possible.
A second focus group took place on 10th June 2024 and was attended by another 7 people from across the country.
An online survey also ran during May and June 2024 to capture people's views about what information would help them to be better informed about research and clinical trials.
What did you tell us?
Through the online survey and focus groups, people told us that the videos should:
- answer key questions that people have about radiotherapy research
- address practical aspects of taking part in a clinical trial
- be clear and accessible, with translations and subtitles
- be available in both short and longer form versions
- contain links to further information
- include a list of questions people might want to ask their clinicians
We filmed interviews with our clinical colleagues to provide information about research and clinical trials in the videos.
Dr Rachel Pearson is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals and is the Network's Research Lead.
She is passionate about research and trials and how they can improve treatments, outcomes and quality of life for patients.
The first draft of the video was shared again with patients and clinical staff for feedback and revisions.
We've also worked with partners and stakeholders to share the video widely across the country and make sure as many people as possible have access to it.
This video, along with a video sharing the personal experiences of Vince and Michelle who were involved in clinical trials at James Cook University Hospital, is now live on our website!
New patient resources
We're also developing some new patient resources to continue to raise awareness of research and clinical trials. The leaflets and posters will provide written information about research and trials and direct people to the website so they can watch the videos and find out more.
Our Quality Improvement Facilitator, James, recently shared these with the Sir Bobby Robson's "Perspectives in Cancer" group, who are people with lived experience of cancer. The group were excited to hear about our progress with this project, how they had helped and to watch the new patient information videos. They also provided some helpful feedback on the new resources.
We are now making some further changes with the design team based on feedback from the group and hope to make these available soon.
Watch this space!
Helping health and care staff in the North East and North Cumbria support research:
Research is about improving outcomes for people and there are many ways we can all get involved.
Finding your route to research:
- Do you work in the NHS, public health or social care?
- Are you interested in improving outcomes for the people or populations you serve?
- Are you interested in finding out more about the varied opportunities in our region to get involved in research?