In November 2022, it was recognised by King’s Health Partners that the ability to support research workforce and those who work with them across our sites; helping them to conduct world-class research, and facilitate their research, was significantly hampered by an absence of a coordinated function that would rapidly process the administrative elements of joint research. Furthermore, there have also been several national policy drivers that have highlighted the need for research efficiency to attract industry and other global partner collaborations with UK based HEIs and NHS Organisations.
Since then, King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust have agreed to establish a Joint Research Office to enhance the initiation and delivery of translational and clinical research. In September 2024, this resulted in the appointment of a Director to oversee the establishment of a KCL-GSTT Joint Research Office (JRO).
Since his arrival in September 2024, the newly appointed Director has been exploring exemplars of best practice as well as known ‘pinch points’ across both organisations that delay the initiation and delivery of translational and clinical research.
The JRO represents a step-change in approach to create an environment that improves the overall efficiency of research initiation and delivery to become a national and international exemplar of best practice.