“Through research, we can improve the care of our patients and not just the patient in front of us at the time, but perhaps many, many patients in the future”
Alex Malyon is Joint Lead for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Professionals Research and Senior Research Leader, Nursing and Midwifery.
Yes! – I work as one of the Leads for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Professionals Research at Cambridge University Hospitals. I share that role with Colin Hamilton, who is a paediatric physiotherapist. The job we do is to support research capacity building for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (NMAHPs). By that I mean we work to maximise the opportunities for NMAHPs to get involved in research and to make sure they have the skills and support they need to undertake research and use research in their practice. I am also currently part of the NIHR Senior Research Leader Programme, which provides funding to support me further developing research at CUH and beyond.
That’s one of the great things about my job – there is no such thing as an average day!
There’s lots of variation in what we do! A big part is meeting with people and supporting them with their research ideas. This means helping them to develop the questions they have from clinical practice into projects- that might be a research project, a service evaluation or audit. We also help people look at research funding and signpost them to appropriate funding opportunities. We assist with applications for things like internships and fellowships. There is also a strong element of teaching and education. This includes bespoke teaching for a team or service or organising the programme of research skills education we run each year.
We also run programmes like the Chief Nurse Internship Programme, for junior nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. This internship funds NMAHPS one day a week to be released from clinical practice to work on a research or innovation project. We’ve just had our third cohort of interns start the programme and this year we are really pleased to have expanded the programme to include interns from Royal Papworth Hospitals (RPH). The programme is supported with funding from the NHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), which is fantastic.
This year we have also delivered an Opening Doors to Research internship programme, supported by a grant from the Cambridge University Research Culture Fund. This internship was designed to support groups, such as NMAHPs trained outside the UK, to gain exposure to research careers. We offered short internships and a series of workshops highlighting all the ways in which research can be part of an NMAHP career. One of the interns from that project has already successfully secured funding through our NIHR BRC pre-application support fund to continue in research.
As an NIHR Senior Research Leader, I am also involved in East of England regional projects and trying to support the development of research across our local system.
Overall, it is a varied role from day to day and week to week – we see many different people and do many different things: mentoring, teaching and supporting people as they’re taking their first steps in research or looking to continue their career in research.
I think the most rewarding thing for me is seeing a real NMAHP research culture and community develop at CUH and across the campus.
Our long-held vision, is to make research a part of everyone’s business and I believe we are seeing this happen.
As an example of how this research culture has developed, we are holding our eighth annual Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Professions Research conference, sponsored and supported by Cambridge BRC alongside other partners including RPH, on the 13th June at the University of Cambridge, Clinical School. This event has grown year on year and this year we have 400 people registered to attend. We have had over 80 abstracts submitted (for posters and oral presentations) from staff across the campus and beyond. It’s so exciting to see this level of engagement with research.
Interestingly, when we have sat down and reviewed the submitted abstracts, we can often spot ones from people who have done our education programmes or undertaken an internship and it is very rewarding to see that they’re continuing to build on their research knowledge and experience. Seeing our colleagues actively contributing to research and innovation is very inspiring!
We obviously all know that we are facing times of financial constraint in the NHS and that is of course a challenge. I think that just makes it more important than ever for us to make the case for the value that research and innovation can have, and importantly the contribution that NMAHP research can make, to solving the complex problems we face in healthcare.
Generally, I think we’re extremely fortunate here on the Cambridge Biomedical Research Campus to have so much support and infrastructure for research, which has included a commitment to supporting and investing in NMAHP research.
I’ve been working in research for over 15 years now. I first started as a clinical research nurse working for what was the CRN (Clinical Research Network), now the RDN (Research Delivery Network). I was part of the core Research Nurse Team and worked at the West Suffolk Hospital, delivering clinical trials. From there, I moved to join one of the trials as a full-time research nurse, which ended up being a springboard into to doing my own research. I worked in various different roles in research before moving into the role I have now as the Lead for NMAHP Research at CUH. I am still keen to continue doing research and am really please to currently also be doing a Cambridge Clinical Research Fellowship funded by ACT and the BRC.
Capacity building is crucial for BRCs as it increases the ability to generate and use research to improve the care and outcomes for our patients and improve the way we work. It is also helps us to build and sustain a diverse workforce undertaking research.
I think it is particularly important to increase these skills in underrepresented disciplines, such as nursing, midwifery or allied health professions, so that we are developing the evidence base to underpin our practice, but also so that the research we do reflects the multi-disciplinary way in which healthcare is delivered now. We are extremely fortunate that supporting NMAHP research has been central for our Cambridge BRC.
I think it comes back to the idea that research should be part of everybody’s business and should underpin everything that we do as healthcare professionals. We need to have a varied and full range of perspectives within all aspects of research. This means having a diverse research workforce, so that our research reflects real clinical concerns and the priorities of patients and those close to them. It can also support a greater diversity of participants recruited into research.
This is why I am so proud of our Opening Doors to Research and Chief Nurse Internship programmes that have both aimed to increase the diversity of people taking up research opportunities.
Finally, involving staff in research and innovation is important as it is a great way to retain them!
Of course, it is definitely an ongoing process! We need to break down this idea that research happens elsewhere and is only something that doctors or very clever academic people do. It is something that should be part of all of our practice, whether you work in a research role or are incorporating research as part of another clinical role.
I think it’s also important to tell people about the diverse career options there are in research, especially here in Cambridge. As well as opportunities to undertake research, there are also great opportunities to deliver research trials. There is a vast range of expertise and experience within our research delivery workforce – which is such a great resource. Hopefully, people from different professions and backgrounds will consider these extra opportunities when considering research as a potential career.
I love working in research! I think that really stems from the fact that I know that when we undertake research, patients experience better outcomes. Through research, we can improve the care of our patients and not just the patient in front of us at the time, but perhaps many, many patients in the future.
By answering important questions from clinical practice, informed by the involvement of our patients, we can improve care and the ways in which we work in the NHS.
The NIHR Cambridge BRC is part of the NIHR and hosted by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the University of Cambridge. We are at the heart of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Europe’s largest health research area.
Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre
Box 277
Hills Road
Cambridge
CB2 0QQ
Tel: 01223 348490
