Executive Summary
- 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.
Recommendation
- 9. The Trust Board is asked to receive this report for information.