NIHR CRDC-PC: Lancashire

NIHR CRDC-PC: Lancashire is an award-winning research centre embedded within an NHS GP Practice in the heart of central Blackpool. Since 2022/23, NIHR CRDC-PC: Lancashire has recruited 1,119 participants, opened 31 commercial interventional portfolio studies including the successful delivery of a number of vaccine programmes. The centre combines clinical excellence with a patient-first approach, ensuring research is both accessible and impactful across Blackpool and the wider Northwest.

A key strength of the centre is the speed and efficiency of its delivery model. NIHR CRDC-PC: Lancashire achieves an average of 3.5 days from site activation to first participant recruited, supported by rapid contracting via NCVR, early participant pre-identification, established vendor partnerships and robust governance processes. This enables studies to move quickly from set-up into active recruitment, supporting delivery to time and target.

NIHR CRDC-PC: Lancashire is deeply committed to addressing health inequalities in Blackpool, one of the UK’s most socioeconomically deprived areas. By bringing commercial clinical trials into this setting, the centre provides access to under-served populations with high unmet clinical need, supporting both improved recruitment and the generation of more representative real-world evidence.

Delivery is supported by a multidisciplinary research team and an established infrastructure that enables consistent recruitment performance across studies. The centre combines strong local engagement with operational delivery capability, ensuring studies are accessible to patients while maintaining high standards of data quality and participant experience.