OUH remains one of England's most research-active NHS Trusts, currently hosting 1,667 active studies, 84% (1402) of which are on the NIHR portfolio. Of these, 497 studies currently actively recruiting recruited 10,103 participants, ranking OUH third nationally.

Performance against site set-up time metrics for research are substantially below the new levels that are required nationally: OUH met the 90-day metric for commercial interventional trials for 37% of relevant studies in H2 2025-26, ranking 6th of 10 Shelford Trusts and 43rd of 73 English Trusts.

Urgent improvement work is underway to accelerate study set-up times and participant recruitment, including improved reporting, a renewed focus on the research timing metrics, review of prioritisation, R&D restructuring, reduced duplication of work with University partners, and work with Finance, Pharmacy, Radiology and other support services. Failure to improve performance will reduce research income (commercial and non-commercial) and opportunities for OUH patients to benefit from research participation.

Research governance has been strengthened through the establishment of the R&D Committee and 14 Research Delivery Groups that provide clearer oversight of research governance, performance, delivery, compliance and alignment with Trust objectives.

The NIHR Oxford BRC and NIHR Oxford CRF remain major strategic assets. In 2025-26, the BRC supported 311 active OUH-hosted studies, while the CRF supported more than 43 studies, including 30 commercially sponsored studies and OUH's first non-oncology CAR-T study.

R&D finances are within forecast, with a £45m 2025-26 budget, major NIHR programmes at breakeven and individual study income exceeding expenditure by £2.6m; the 2026-27 budget is £52m.

The research delivery workforce comprises more than 370 staff across 38 teams, with complex OUH/University employment and reporting arrangements. Reduced RDN funding for research delivery staffing has prompted a review and plans to develop a more uniform and more resilient workforce model.

This paper was presented and discussed at TME on 9 July 2026; no questions or concerns were raised by TME members; and TME were content for the paper to proceed to Board.

9. The Trust Board is asked to receive this report for information.