South West England

Meet the team

	Dr Jen Pearson Co- Leader  University of the West of England, Bristol
	Dr Ralph Hammond Co- Leader and Consortium Lead Somerset Clinical School Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
	Jessica Coggins  Consortium Administration  University of the West of England, Bristol

Advancing Research Careers for Under-recognised Groups in Allied Health Professions across the South West

Funded by NHS England SW, CAHPR South West completed a project exploring AHP research career progression for under-recognised groups across the South West. Katie Williams (pictured right) led the project, which aimed to support the implementation of strategic aim 2 of the  Developing a Research Skilled Workforce strategy 2023 – 2026: to improve access and equity, 

On Thursday 23rd May 2024, Katie hosted a thank you and feedback session. This event shared the findings of phase one, plans for phase two and a series of of five-minute lightening talks to raise awareness of research career building opportunities and resources available to South West AHPs and AHP support workers. Please find the the slides below.

The final report which includes findings and recommendations from phase one and two can be found below. 

Small Grants Scheme 2024

The small grants scheme has now closed for 2024. Applications are currently being reviewed and applicants will receive an outcome by Monday 5th August 2024. 

In 2023, we awarded seven AHPs funding to support their conference or research related study day attendance. Please see their reports and summary videos below.

Corinne Birch Feedback Summary Video 

Developing a research skilled workforce in the South West

NHS England SW has commissioned the University of Plymouth to lead the promotion and engagement of the SW workforce in implementing its regional strategy. 

The regional research strategy: DRSW

There are 6 domains to this strategy:

1. Invest in and nurture our workforce

What CAHPR SW consortium is doing:

• We support delivery of the NIHR clinical academic development programme NIHR ICA programme in the south west. This includes paid internships and bridging awards.
• We offer a monthly Conversation Cafe. This is a drop in, online chat to discuss, share, signpost, support, and encourage people at all stages of their clinical academic  / research delivery / clinical development journey.   

2. Improve equity and access 

What CAHPR SW consortium is doing:

• We are running our biggest ever project: to better understand the barriers and enablers to enabling research advancement for under-represented groups within the AHPs, in the south west (see above).
• We are in talks to develop networks to widen our capacity and reach across the region... watch this space.
• Watch the DRSW webinar Webinar 3 - Do I matter to research? (link to YouTube video)

  Guest speakers: Amanda Dufley, Vimal Sriram PhD, Munira Khan, Sun Sanders-Jackson and Gita Ramdharry PhD ; Webinar hosted 11 July 2023

3. Lead by example

What CAHPR SW consortium is doing:

• We provide funding to support AHPs attend CPD events (see below).
• We promote and celebrate role models in providing evidence-based practice.
• Signpost AHPs to research leadership development courses.

4. Support south west research priorities

What CAHPR SW consortium is doing:

• In 2023 we undertook an online survey to better understand what AHPs in the south west want from us. We are using this to inform our next steps.
• We believe region wide ICB research priorities are due to  be published soon.......... 

5. Grow our influence

What CAHPR SW consortium is doing:

• In 2024, we will be reaching out more more explicitly to the AHP Faculties across the region, offering ourselves as a resource for AHP health and care professionals, and support workers, in accessing research development and research delivery opportunities. 
• We are working with the NHSE south west workforce training and education AHP lead, Carrie Biddle. 
• One of our Research Champions, Dr Richard Collings, is the CAHPR vice-chair.
• Our Consortium lead, Dr Ralph Hammond, is chairing the CAHPR mission and vision working party. 

6. Create a thriving research culture

What CAHPR SW consortium is doing:

• Engaging with the regional research strategy (DRSW)
• Attending the DRSW23 conference with a stand, flyers, and giveaways
• Running a monthly Conversation Cafes
• Running weekly Writing Sessions
• We moderate a Twitter / X feed, for AHPs as a step into the research world
• Our CAHPR Research Champions are a point of contact for AHPs with research questions:

1. Richard Collings
2. Angie Logan 
3. Elaine Willmore
4. Sandi Derham

Events 

Conversation Cafés

Join CAHPR South West at our online drop in conversation café!

It's an opportunity to ask questions, discuss research, and network. Everyone is welcome! 

Time:  One hour 

Dates:

• Tuesday 24th September, 15.00-16.00, facilitated by Dr Jen Pearson

Meeting link: Please click this link to join the MS Teams meeting.

Join our writing sessions 

We are excited to start delivering writing sessions! Our objective is simple yet powerful: to create an environment free from distractions where you can devote your undivided attention to writing. Guided by the renowned Pomodoro Technique, these sessions will cultivate focus and offer brief intervals for a break. Whether you are an experienced researcher or just starting your research career, we invite all Allied Health Professionals within the South West to join us.  

No exercises, lectures, or critiques will fill these sessions; instead, they offer a dedicated space for you to focus on writing those abstracts, undertake service evaluations, funding applications, or publications!

Upon joining, we kindly request that you arrive with a clear goal in mind. The sessions will start with a brief conversation, allowing each participant to share their individual objectives. Following this, we will engage in focused writing bursts.

In consideration of the immersive nature of these sessions, we kindly ask that you commit to participating for the entire duration.

Here are the upcoming dates:

• Monday 9th September, 8.00-9.30
• Friday 20th September, 15.30-17.00
• Thursday 26th September, 11.00-12.30
• Monday 30th September, 17.00-18.30

Meeting link: Please click this link to join the MS Teams meeting.

Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement

Links to useful information

1. NHS Health Research Authority here
2. NIHR Patient and Public Involvement resources for applicants to NIHR research programmes here

Find out more about CAHPR South West, about AHP research, and clinical research

Our twitter feed shares information on events, news, research projects, training opportunities, and funding announcements. Contact us via email if you have specific questions. Scroll to the bottom of this page, below for contact details.

Needs survey 

We completed a needs survey with our network, please find this below. 

Videos

Contact information

Tweets by CAHPRsouthwest