Summary
Settings can apply for funding that will help improve clinical research for colleagues and patients.
Primary care providers in Greater Manchester have until Friday 9 January, 2026 to apply for funding that will increase access to clinical research.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is offering two opportunities via its strategic funding and wider care settings funding schemes.
Both schemes aim to support the delivery of the three government shifts as part of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.
Wider care settings include GPs, pharmacies, dental practices and opticians, as well as care homes, hospices, ambulance services, prisons, schools and other community-based organisations.
Primary care settings are eligible to apply for both pots of funding.
The ‘wider care settings’ funding ranges from £1,500 to £100,000, while the ‘strategic’ funding is capped at £150,000 in the north west.
The deadline for north west applicants is 9 January (other regions have different funding limits and deadlines).
To apply, visit the NIHR website. You can also contact the NIHR North West Regional Research Delivery Network if you need to discuss your application: nw.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
The latest research opportunities from NIHR include:
- INDIGO Community – This study has been extended to June 2026. It uses questionnaires to help understand how a patient feels about their quality of life and experiences of care. Using a digital survey tool, the study hopes to run a project that will help understand more about the lives of patients after treatment for cancer. They plan to see which patient-reported outcome measures allow participants to express their quality of life as rated by the participants. The study will also explore how to keep the amount of time and effort needed to complete the questionnaires as low as possible
- DaRE2THINK – is an individual-patient, randomised, parallel-group, open-label, event-driven superiority trial with 1:1 allocation to either direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) or no added therapy.A staged internal pilot programme is incorporated into the design of this Clinical Trial of an Investigational Medicinal Product (CTIMP). It will test the hypothesis that DOACs are effective at reducing thromboembolic events and vascular dementia compared to no treatment. Aimed at patients with AF and a low or intermediate expected risk of stroke, it uses a healthcare data approach to reduce the burden on both NHS staff and patients. This study is open to practices that are registered with the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD).
A full list of available studies in general practice can be found on the NIHR Primary Care Research Hub. You can also get in touch with the team by emailing: nw.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk
More information about clinical research and the work of NIHR NW RRDN can be found on the PCB website.
