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Research provides the mechanism to improve both patient outcomes and the care we provide. This features strongly in the NHS 10-year plan, not as a complement to care but as a driver for the shifts to prevention, community and digital. At Barts Health, we are already well on the way: improving diagnoses, developing personalised treatments, and ensuring that new technologies and drugs reach our patients sooner. 

In 2019, we set out a research strategy to grow patient participation, build a multi-professional research culture across all our sites, strengthen our infrastructure and deepen our partnerships.

In that time, Barts Health has developed into a Trust competing at the highest level globally - outlined in our Research Impact Report, published today. Patient participation has nearly doubled over six years, reaching over 31,000 participants across 450 studies in 2024/25 alone. We have consistently led the NHS in recruitment to commercial drug trials, our teams are regularly achieving European and global firsts for patient recruitment, and the average time from regulatory approval to first patient recruitment stands at just 74 days.

This performance is founded in a rich ecosystem of partnerships: with Queen Mary University of London and other academic partners, with industry, charities and the communities we serve. These collaborations have delivered new standards of care for bladder and breast cancer, breakthroughs in multiple sclerosis treatment now benefiting patients worldwide, innovations in blood pressure management that could transform care for millions, and even more impact across a range of specialties. That growth is matched by increased investment in infrastructure, particularly from the NIHR and Barts Charity, both locally and across the region.

When Covid-19 struck, our teams adapted, demonstrating the sort of versatility that a strong research culture makes possible - enrolling over 12,000 participants into Covid-related studies in just 15 months. We came out of that period with hard-won experience, more resilient processes, and a clearer sense of what we are capable of. This is only possible because of our dedicated and passionate workforce consisting of clinicians and clinical leaders across a range of professions and specialties, research delivery teams, both clinical and non-clinical, research & development professionals and many more - all who have made research part of how they think about care for their patients.

For me, this report is more than a record of what we have achieved. It is a signal of what is possible. We operate in one of the most diverse corners of the world, and the research we conduct resonates globally - it shapes treatment guidelines, informs multinational trials and changes outcomes for patients far beyond north east London. That is an extraordinary opportunity, and one we are only beginning to realise. Barts Health is ready: for partners, for investment, for the next generation of research that will define what the NHS can be.

 Read the Barts Health Research Impact Report (2019-2025)

Dr Jenny Rivers
Director of Research and Development
Barts Health NHS Trust