A blog by Mike Watson, Chief Business Transformation Officer
We’re changing how people plan, approve and manage research in the UK. It’s one of the biggest shifts we’ve taken on in years. To do this, we need to bring together regulatory processes, digital services and operational teams from across the health and care research system.
Our approach reflects the scale and complexity of this challenge: delivery matters as much as design. We’re moving forward in controlled phases, testing with real users and adapting quickly to what we learn. This makes sure we build a reliable service that works in practice and evolves at pace.
We’re starting with an iterative, constantly improving approach that brings new functionality online regularly: small steps, tested with real users, learning and adapting as we go. We’re doing this because it’s the safest and most effective way to build and replace the national service that people rely on.
Why small steps make sense
Changing a national health and care research system isn’t something you launch in one big moment. Research involves regulators, sponsors, NHS sites, policy teams, research ethics committees and thousands of users. Introducing a new service into that environment needs care.
Small steps are easier to test and easier for people to understand. It means starting small, building something real that users can use, and improving it based on what we learn. It allows the team to check that the service is meeting the needs of users before building more features.
As these small steps build up, the service grows. We will deliver regular changes, with new features and better user journeys regularly as the programme build momentum. This is the normal pace of modern digital services. Small steps don’t mean slower progress. They allow us to move faster overall because we can learn quickly, improve quickly and release improvements continuously without waiting for a ‘big bang’ moment.
We’ve carefully planned the sequence of functionality we will deliver and users we will open the service to so that it makes sense as a service. This approach lowers risk, protects regulatory performance and helps us build something that genuinely works in practice — not just on paper.
It’s the same method used across modern government digital programmes because it delivers better outcomes, more safely.
What we’re doing first
On 10 December, we’ll take the first step by introducing new functionality to a small group of sponsor early adopters. They will use it for real submissions for selected study types, in live situations, to make changes to existing studies. Their insight will help us understand what works well, where the problems are and what we need to adjust before we scale.
Each release will add another small piece of functionality, gradually expanding and strengthening the service. Over time, these small steps will add up to something much bigger. We’ll start small on 10 December and open things up gradually. We’re not holding the service back — we’re being deliberate. We’ll control access until we’re confident the service is ready to scale, and then we’ll widen it out quickly. That balance is how we keep momentum without overwhelming the people who rely on the system every day.
Supporting people through change
Technology can move fast and we want to move as fast as we can where it’s safe to do so. There is real urgency in improving how research is planned and approved in the UK. But moving fast doesn’t have to mean overwhelming people or risking disruption. Small, frequent releases help us balance both speed and safety.
They let us deliver value as quickly as we can, getting new features into the hands of users as soon as they’re ready while still giving teams space to understand new processes, adjust to different ways of working and build confidence step by step.
This approach means:
- the service keeps improving and growing
- people are supported to adopt change sustainably
- operations stay stable as we transition
- we avoid the “big bang” risk that often slows programmes down later
And you’ll see training, guidance and communication grow alongside every release to support change landing well. The pace of change will vary, so we’re ensuring the right support is in place to help users adapt effectively.
Learning through feedback
Feedback sits at the centre of our work. We have already done extensive engagement to involve users in every stage of the design and build, and this will continue throughout the programme.
We know that, particularly in these early stages, things won’t be perfect. Every release will create an opportunity to learn, iterate and improve. The team will listen to what is working, what is not and what would make the system more helpful. We will respond rapidly to issues that are impacting our users ability to do their work. Other feedback will shape the next cycle of work.
This approach makes the service stronger and more reliable over time. Decisions are guided by real experience rather than assumptions. By building, testing and improving in regular loops, the programme stays close to the needs of the people who need to use the system to do their work.
Looking ahead
The changes we make on 10 December are just the beginning. After this, we’ll continue to release new features in increments, scaling, adapting and improving continuously and widening access as the service matures.
The transformation we’re delivering won’t happen overnight, and it shouldn’t. Building a trusted, high-quality national service takes time. Every step will move us closer to our aim: building a digital service that makes doing research people can trust easier, faster and more coherent.
Steady progress is still progress. And done well, it’s the kind that lasts.