Medical breakthroughs rarely happen in silos. In Oxford, synergies between its NHS Trusts and universities drive the region’s ability to produce health research discoveries that change lives around the world. Navigating the complexities of different institutions can slow progress, that’s where Oxford’s Joint Research Office (JRO) comes in. By streamlining research governance and support across Oxford’s leading health partners, the Oxford JRO works to simplify processes and governance across the lifecycle of joint clinical research studies.
Establishing the Joint Research Office
The Oxford JRO was established in 2011 as a partnership between the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust. In 2022, with support from the Oxford Academic Health Partners (OAHP) both Oxford Health (OH) NHS Foundation Trust and Oxford Brookes University were incorporated into the JRO, making it an office of all the OAHP’s partners.
“Inevitably across each of the two NHS Trusts in Oxford, when it comes to research governance, people will do the same thing differently,” says Chris Bray, Head of R&D Operations at OUH NHS Foundation Trust. “When we incorporated Oxford Health into the JRO, which is a comparatively smaller Trust with a different patient population, we set out on a journey to compare and contrast the way we do things, like mapping how we go about setting up a study.”
Specialist research operations teams across each of the four JRO partner organisations now work together to harmonise and bolster many aspects of research governance and support. In doing so, the JRO’s end goal is to enhance the interface between academics and the NHS by streamlining the systems that underpin research – from pre-study grant applications through to contracting and commercialisation, patient engagement and communications.
“While a lot of the research comes out of the universities, we also do research in the Trust,” says Bill Wells, former Head of Research & Development at OH NHS Foundation Trust, who was instrumental in setting up the JRO. “Individually, we will each always be organised quite differently, but it makes sense to look to where we have similar systems, processes and approaches for research across the partners. If we can align these, researchers and study teams will know what to expect and what questions they’ll be asked. It’s about giving researchers a smooth pathway through the various systems.”
Harmonising processes and shared ways of working
By putting their processes side-by-side, the two NHS Trusts are working with the OAHP to look at what works well in one Trust and whether it can be mapped across to the other. One of the current areas of focus is the set-up of research studies, using shared research management software like Studyline and Sightline.
“Crucially, this way of working gives us some resilience if people in the team are unavailable due to illness or a high workload,” explains Chris. “We can parachute someone in from the other Trust to help because they recognise the landscape and the systems. Sharing expertise like this across the partners also supports our aim of helping to set up clinical research studies more efficiently.”
The JRO provides essential support for the rapidly expanding portfolio of research at OH NHS Foundation Trust, particularly in areas like reviewing research contracts, where an outsourcing agreement has been in place for some time. Similarly, for studies sponsored by Oxford Brookes University, the JRO offers dedicated support from the University of Oxford to review specialised health research contracts.
“The JRO is a good network to be part of and brings expertise and knowledge into Oxford Brookes University,” says Foteini Mavrommati, Joint Research Office Ambassador for Oxford Brookes University. “It’s particularly useful when challenging situations arise, like when we have queries about research involving human tissue. A safety net like this is an advantage. Yet, while our research support teams at Brookes are smaller than the other partners, we also add a lot of insight from our expertise in other areas, like research involving allied health professionals.
“I’m keen that we continue to strengthen Oxford Brookes’ position as an equal partner in the JRO, and make sure that our researchers know they’re part of this wider network when planning their projects because they have access to specialist teams across Oxford who can support them.”
Key developments and future plans
Beyond efforts to align and simplify processes, the JRO also arranges joint training for research support teams and dedicated time and space for the partners to discuss issues that impact research funding, like Brexit or changes in how grants are awarded. This can facilitate a collective approach to feeding back to Government and funders.
“On occasions when we need to provide feedback to funders on research contracting or grant funding, for example, then we can work together to represent Oxford’s shared interests and ways of working,” explains Bill Wells.
The JRO’s ability to bring specialist teams together to handle large-scale urgent research needs has already contributed significantly to the achievements of Oxford’s two NIHR Biomedical Research Centres and Clinical Research Facilities. The JRO also helped to facilitate the rapid research response during the COVID-19 pandemic, coordinating efforts across institutions to manage increased volumes of research and support swift approvals for new studies.
“When we became a joint office of four partners, we spent some time trying to understand more about how we individually function and where we could work together to smooth over the gaps,” says Carly Banner, Assistant Director, Research Funding and Contracts at the University of Oxford. “Working together has been a bit of a learning curve, simply because we are all so different in our approach.”
With the complex challenges currently facing universities and NHS Trusts, Oxford JRO’s success will ultimately rely on its ability to bring people together. Carly Banner explains: “It’s never going to smooth every wrinkle – we’re different organisations. But the JRO helps us to build those kinds of collaborative links rather than some sort of formal legal structure, so it’s really about how we all work together across Oxford.”