The results of our annual survey asking people working across health and social care research in the UK about their experience of study set-up have been published.
The survey, which received 440 responses, was carried out between March and April 2026, and looked at how the health research sector is experiencing study set-up at sites.
It focuses on six key themes, ease, clarity, consistency, efficiency and speed, that the HRA aims to influence throughout work to improve study set-up as part of the UK Clinical Research Delivery (UKCRD) programme.
Key findings from the survey
In the survey we asked a series of questions under the following themes:
- ease – 45% of respondents said it was either easy or very easy to set up a study at a single NHS or HSC site, this dropped to 17% for studies across multiple NHS or HSC sites, and 15% to studies across multiple non-NHS or HSC settings
- clarity – 57% of respondents rated UK guidance on the study set-up process to be clear or very clear, this dropped to 41% for individual sponsor processes and 35% for individual site processes
- consistency – 47% of respondents said that regulators were very consistent or consistent during the study set-up process, this dropped to 32% for NHS or HSC sites and 18% for sponsors
- expectations – 20% of respondents said that their experience of study set-up met or exceeded expectations, with 37% saying their experience somewhat met expectations
- efficiency – 20% of respondents said the study set-up process was very efficient or efficient, with 61% saying it was inefficient or very inefficient and 19% undecided
- speed – 7% of respondents said that site set-up was very fast or fast, with 31% rating it as average and 62% rating as slow or very slow
The results under each theme have been grouped to show whether there was a difference in reported experience between commercial and non-commercial research, sites and applicants, and NHS staff compared to all other respondents.
Commercial respondents were generally more positive than non-commercial respondents across most themes. Applicants and sites reported similar experiences overall, but applicants tended to express stronger negative views, while sites were more neutral. NHS respondents were typically more positive or neutral than other respondents.
The survey shows that while measurable improvements in study set-up performance are beginning to be recognised, consistent implementation across organisations and settings remains the sector’s biggest challenge. The findings provide a clear baseline for tracking whether current UKCRD reforms translate into a more consistently positive experience for researchers over the coming years.
View the full results of the survey.
Responding to the results, Dr Jonathan Fennelly-Barnwell, Interim Director of Approvals at the Health Research Authority, said:
"The results of the survey show that while sector wide efforts to improve study set-up in the UK are beginning to be recognised, there is still work to do to make processes more efficient.
"As with any survey the results give us a snapshot of reported experience at a certain time. Since the survey was carried out the sector has made significant progress against the 150-day set-up target, with the average time to set up a clinical trial in the UK now 122 days.
"We've also worked hard to update the suite of template contracts used by commercial and non-commercial sponsors to help streamline and standardise the set-up process.
"Whilst the findings show there is work to do across the sector, they provide a clear baseline for us to use going forward to track whether sector wide work being done as part of the UKCRD programme translates into a more consistently positive experience for researchers over the coming years."