New primary care commercial research delivery centre will enable more northwest Londoners to take part in clinical research
Thanks to the support of the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) through its Primary Care Research Unit and others, general practices across NW London have been awarded a NIHR grant of £1 million over three years.
The funding means the practices can establish a new Primary Care Commercial Research Delivery Centre (PC-CRDC), which will be based in a GP setting. The new PC-CRDC will develop more links with the pharmaceutical industry, bringing more research to the local community so even more people will be able to participate in clinical trials.
The BRC’s unit has already helped to establish three research units in GP surgeries and primary care networks to enable more people from all backgrounds across northwest (NW) London to take part in commercial clinical research trials to find new treatments.
The NIHR Imperial BRC is a translational research partnership between Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London, which was awarded £95 million in 2022 to continue developing new experimental treatments and diagnostics for patients.
Coordinating research between GPs and industry
The PC-CRDC comprises six GP groups that look after 1.5 million people in Hammersmith & Fulham, Hounslow, Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Brent and is commissioned through HMC Health Group.
It will create a joined-up research system by coordinating interactions with the pharmaceutical industry, bringing more research into the community. This means more residents of NW London will have the chance to participate in trials close to their homes.
The North London PC-CRDC is one of 14 Centres being established in the UK by the NIHR to bring commercial research into primary care. The scheme will help make the UK a world leader in primary care research and means more people in England will have access to clinical trials, particularly those in communities experiencing the greatest burden of ill health.
Professor David Wingfield, a GP at Hammersmith and Fulham Partnership (HFP) and Co-Director of the PC-CRDC said: “Our new centre means people who live in northwest (NW) London will be able to participate in research to develop new medicines for several diseases that are currently difficult to treat or control. In northwest London we have a great track record for delivering high quality research studies quickly, close to people's homes.
“Thanks to the NIHR Imperial BRC funding, we will develop our links with the pharmaceutical industry and look forward to expanding the number and scale of studies we are involved in, as coordinated primary care organisations across the area."
Building on previous success in NW London
NW London currently leads the country in the number of patients taking part in research through GP surgeries. Since April 2024, extra funding from national research partners has helped increase support for research in GP practices, including hiring more research nurses and pharmacists and equipping GP premises.
HFP and HMC have delivered large numbers of commercial trials in primary care and have successfully embedded a primary care model of academic research into the NIHR Imperial BRC. This award builds on that success.
A central point to coordinate trials
The PC-CRDC will act as a central point for NW London for hospitals, pharmaceutical and health tech companies to coordinate studies, saving time, avoiding duplication, and making it easier to run studies.
The group will use NHS data to understand local patient needs and match studies to the most suitable GP practices, and will work closely with local hospitals, universities, and research centres to train staff and improve the quality of research delivered in our communities.
Find out more
