Clinical Research is a core function of the NHS which helps drive innovation and maintain high standards of patient care. Shore Medical takes part in research which enables us to offer our patients access to new and improved treatments, interventions and medicines which ultimately helps us to develop a wider evidence base across primary care.

Dr Alex Todd is our Research Lead at Shore Medical and he is supported by the Research Team which includes dedicated research nurses and a Research Operations Lead. Everyone working on Research Studies completes comprehensive research-specific training in addition to mandatory Good Clinical Practice for Research (GCP) training to ensure we comply with principles set out by the UK policy framework for health and social care research.

The Department of Health set up The National Institute for Health and Research (NIHR) to fund, enable and deliver world-leading health and social care research to improve people’s health and wellbeing and promote economic growth. At a local level, Shore Research works with the South West Central Research Delivery Network (RDN) which provides infrastructure and support to promote high quality research across our area. The NIHR Primary Care Strategy clearly outlines how to promote and facilitate high quality research within the Primary Care setting. (NIHR Clinical Research Network Primary Care Strategy 24 Feb 2022 v1.0)

South West Central | NIHR RDN

In October 2025, The NIHR established 14 new Primary Care Commercial Research Delivery Centres (PC-CRDCs) across the country. The Adam Practice in Poole which has an established history of running clinical trials, was successful in being selected to host the Dorset PC-CRDC, in collaboration with five other GP practices within Dorset. Shore Medical is one of these practices.

The Dorset CRDC aims to make it much easier for our local population to take part in research and get access to treatments and technologies that previously they would only have been able to access in hospital settings.

By working together The Dorset CRDC will help more people across Dorset take part in research, increasing accessibility to all parts of our community.

Inclusive Research
We are committed to ensuring that people from all backgrounds have the opportunity to take part in research. The Dorset CRDC works to make research accessible and relevant to the diverse communities we serve.

How We Work Together
The practices working within the Dorset CRDC are committed to embedding research into routine care. Not every practice has all the facilities or staff required to run every type of study, so by working together we share resources across different sites to ensure more studies can be delivered locally.

What This Means for People Invited to Take Part
Depending on the requirements of the study, visits may take place at your local practice or at another location. This may be one of the other collaborating practices or The Adam Practice at the Upton Surgery.
Your name may be identified through a database search run by your practice as being potentially suitable for a particular study. If this happens, you may receive information about a study from your practice research team by telephone to ask if you are interested in taking part. This may be followed up with a text or email. You may also be sent information about a study that requires you to actively register your interest on a secure website (“landing platform”) if you would like to take part.

Your Choice and Your Information
Taking part in research is completely voluntary. You will be provided with information about the study, including the risks and benefits, via a study‑specific Patient Information Sheet so that you can make an informed decision. We encourage you to speak to family members or friends if you wish to discuss the study before deciding.

Some studies can only be conducted at practices with the necessary facilities required by the study sponsor. This means that some study visits may take place at one of the practices working together as part of the collaboration, which may not be where you are registered. If this is the case and you are interested in taking part, you will be asked for your consent to share your personal information with the practice where the study is being conducted. There are strict Data Protection rules in place to protect your information, which we adhere to at all times. Please ask if you would like further details.

If you do not wish to be contacted about research, please let the surgery know so this can be recorded on your medical record.

Please check the “Open Studies” tab for further details – studies run as part of this collaboration are marked with “Dorset Primary Care CRDC”

There are a number of ways in which you can become involved in research studies within Shore Medical;

• The Research Team at the practice may look at your record to determine whether you are suitable to be invited for a research study. If you are identified as a suitable participant, a doctor or nurse may talk to you about a particular study relevant to your health and ask whether you would be interested in taking part.You may be sent information by SMS text, through the post or by email
• You may read about studies on our website or in our waiting room
• You can register an interest in becoming involved in research studies through the national Be Part of Research website, Be Part Of Research (nihr.ac.uk) 

The studies we undertake have all received approval from the Health Research Authority (HRA) to ensure they are safe to perform. If studies involve a new medication or a new medical device, then they will also have been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Your participation is entirely voluntary, and you can withdraw from a research study at any time. Your care will not be affected in any way should you decide not to take part. The consent process ensures you receive clear information about what taking part would involve and you have the opportunity to ask questions and obtain further details.

For research queries, please contact: research.shore@nhs.net or telephone the team directly on 01202 545195

For further patient information please visit the NHS Health Research Authority website: Patient Data and Research leaflet – Health Research Authority (hra.nhs.uk)

Updated June 2026

This practice is one of over 1900 practices in England and Wales contributing pseudonymised data for national research and surveillance. This data enables continuous monitoring of infections and diseases in the community and is used in ethically approved research. The Oxford RCGP RSC is the main source of information for the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and helps with prediction and management of flu outbreaks and pandemics. Providing pseudonymised data does not affect patients, their care or privacy, however if you no longer wish to allow your information to be used please speak to your GP.