Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust works in close collaboration with external partners to further Research and Innovation, including the University of Portsmouth, the National Institute for Health Research and the Wessex Clinical Research Network (CRN).
The Portsmouth Technologies Trials Unit (PTTU) also works in collaboration with clinical researchers, academics, patients and commercial partners to develop research studies relevant to our community.
It specialises in working with commercial partners, including SMEs to develop research trials in new health care technologies and also has a broad portfolio of studies including observational studies and qualitative research. To find out more visit http://portsmouthtechnologiestrialsunit.org.uk/
Before starting a project, it is important to determine whether a project is classified as research, service evaluation or an audit.
What is research?
Research generates new knowledge where there is no or limited evidence available and has the potential to be generalisable or transferable.
Generalisable means the findings can be reliably extrapolated from the study to a broader population of patients or service users and/or applied to settings or contexts other than those in which they were tested.
Transferable means the findings of a qualitative study can be assumed to be applicable to a similar context or setting. Although qualitative studies are not usually generalisable, they can often be transferable.
If you are unsure if your project is research, please speak to the research coordinator in your area for advice or email research.
You can also refer to HRA decision tools: http://
Research will normally require Research Ethics Committee (REC) approval. Please refer to the HRA decision tools to confirm if ethics is required for your project: http://
If you would wish to carry out a research study, please contact the Research Office by emailing research.office@porthosp.nhs.uk or get in touch with your department lead.
What is service evaluation?
Service evaluation is designed to examine how standard care is delivered with the intention of generating information to inform local decision-making.
If you are planning to carry out a service evaluation, please complete a proposal form and send to research.
The Research Office will review your proposal to ensure it meets the criteria for service evaluation and will issue a confirmation letter.
What is an audit?
An audit measures existing practice against evidence-based clinical standards.
For audit queries, please contact the Clinical Audit department - clinical.audit@porthosp.nhs.uk
IWT/PHU Research Standard Operating Procedures are now stored on the Research instance of Ideagen Quality Management (IQM), our quality management system. Please access SOPs via this system to ensure you are utilising the correct version.
If you are unable to access this system, please contact pho-tr.