Planning and working with sites

Last updated on 4 Jan 2019

It is vital to the success of your project that you consider at an early stage how and where participants will be identified, recruited and participate in your project.

 You will need to consider whether:

  • organisations can identify a suitable number of potential participants;
  • staff have the relevant skills, expertise and time; and
  • organisations have appropriate equipment and facilities.

Different organisations can be involved in different parts of the project. You may need to conduct the research at sites with access to particular equipment or skills. 

Consider whether such sites will be able to identify the required number of participants meeting your eligibility criteria, or whether you should work with other organisations to identify potential participants. Details of participating sites should be entered into your application in part C of your IRAS project.

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NHS sites

To find out about 'NHS site set up in England' please visit our best practice section

The Chief Investigator or sponsor should ensure that each NHS organisation is provided with any necessary information and documentation needed to set up the study and confirm management permission. The information you will need to submit to participating sites may vary and will depend on the type of study, and the location of the site.

You can find contact details for Research and Development (R&D) staff at NHS organisations on the NHS R&D forum.

Information on working with NHS/HSC sites is provided within the Integrated Research Application System's (IRAS) help section

Non-NHS sites

It is the responsibility of the sponsor and Chief Investigator to ensure that local research teams have all the relevant documents to conduct the study, including the current version of the protocol.

Adding new research sites

If you have already received approval but would like to add a new research site, please visit read the 'amendment guidance' that can be found on IRAS.

Participant Identification Centres (PICs)

If you are looking for information about Participant Identification Centres (PICs), please visit IRAS.

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