The Health Education England (HEE) Research Strategy (2022 sets out the national vision for creating an education system that is evidence based and underpinned by research and innovation. Furthermore, the strategy uses engagement with research to build the capability and capacity of the current workforce. The Council of Deans of Health (2018 advocated the development of clinical academic careers with the intention of encouraging quality health and social care through offering combined clinical and research active roles to clinicians. Chief Nursing Officer for England, Ruth May (2021), provides a specific strategy for the delivery of a national nursing research vision, “Making research matter”, which includes the provision of time to lead, deliver and implement research as an essential and rewarding part of effective nursing care.
We aim to support novice and more experienced researchers at all levels, enabling our colleagues to grow a research career whilst maintaining close links to clinical practice and with collaborative working alongside education partners and the wider health care community.
Medical Doctoral Fellowships
The Trust runs a Medical Doctoral Fellowship scheme with an annual intake of up to six research fellows to undertake period of research training towards an MD or PhD. This is a joint initiative between the Trust, HEE Kent, Surrey & Sussex (KSS) and Brighton and Sussex Medical School. The aim of the scheme is to in increase opportunities for patients and staff at the Trust to participate in research that improves the quality of the care we provide our patients. At the same time, the scheme creates opportunities to research local priorities to meet the needs of our patients. Fellows are funded to take 2-3 years out of their clinical training and undertake a dedicated period of research, subject to agreement from their training programme director. These posts are open to any KSS medical or surgical trainee and advertised nationally via NHS Jobs late winter to early spring.
Clinical Research Fellows
The Trust has further research training opportunities for trainee doctors at ST1, 2 & 3 level. Advertised nationally, approximately 20 posts are available with an allocated 25% of time dedicated to research. These posts are embedded within the Research & Innovation Department and provide the post holders time to develop necessary skills to become Principal Investigators, as well as providing support to those who wish apply for doctoral schemes. Again, these posts are open to any medical or surgical trainee and advertised nationally via NHS Jobs late winter to early spring.