UK launches talent taskforce to tackle trials decline

Today saw the debut of a partnership between the UK NHS and an organisation that provides accreditation for clinical research professionals, aiming to attract, develop, and retain people working in the sector.

The UK Clinical Trials Talent Taskforce has been set up in the wake of the recently-published report by Lord James O'Shaughnessy on the state of commercial clinical trials in the UK, which made a series of recommendations to reverse a decline in the sector in recent years.

According to figures from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), there was a 41% decline in new trial initiations between 2017 and 2021.

The new taskforce – set up by the NHS R&D Forum and the International Accrediting Organisation for Clinical Research (IAOCR) – will support the development of an 'ecosystem' for talent attraction, development, professional recognition, and retention, and answer Lord O'Shaughnessy's call for "exceptional best practice" to become the norm in the UK.

Its first job will be to survey the current situation in UK clinical trials, so that it can then identify existing best practices and current gaps, and recommend ways to grow the established and future talent – in both the public and private sectors – that will be needed for the UK to become a global leader in commercial clinical trials.

One of the targets set by Lord O'Shaughnessy is to double the number of people taking part in commercial clinical trials in the next two years, and double it again by 2027, noted the taskforce, which is co-chaired by NHS R&D Forum's Angela Topping and IAOCR's Jacqueline Johnson North.

"To exponentially increase participation in clinical trials, the UK will need a dedicated, best-in-class workforce," commented Johnson North, chief executive of the IAOCR and Global Clinical Site Accreditation (GCSA).

"Whilst the UK possesses a plethora of talent solutions across the private and public sector, the current offering is fragmented. Lord O'Shaughnessy's call for 'exceptional best practice' will require an exceptional workforce enabled by exceptional education, career development, and professional recognition," she added.

The taskforce will also take into account recommendations laid out in another report from Professor Dame Angela McLean, which reviewed the life sciences regulatory system in the UK and recommended the creation of US-style Centres of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSIs) to create a skills pipeline.

"Both the O'Shaughnessy and McLean reviews have recognised that the design, delivery, and implementation of clinical research is complex and multi-disciplinary," said Topping, who is head of the Newcastle Joint Research Office (NJRO) in the NHS.

"This is why we need a systems-wide approach to ensure that we have career pathways which support and nurture our clinical research talent to benefit the UK as a whole."