The Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility education programme, set up five years ago in Edinburgh to teach core skills to new researchers, will now act as a national resource for all clinical research training in Scotland. The Edinburgh centre will set up a database of all research training opportunities across Scotland, and share educational resources with other clinical research facilities throughout the UK. The new national centre will be underpinned by funding from NHS Education Scotland (NES).
Dr Mike Watson, Director of Medicine for NHS Education for Scotland (NES) said: "NES is delighted to support this very important initiative which will make available high quality training in research methodology to all members of the NHS Scotland healthcare team including those involved in primary care.
"The Wellcome Trust programme fits precisely with our remit to provide education, training and lifelong learning support for the whole of NHS Scotland to enable a workforce fit for purpose against the background of a complex and constantly changing environment. Well honed research skills will be of immense benefit, both to move forward the understanding of disease and other healthcare issues as well as ensuring practitioners keep up to date with the latest techniques and discoveries in diagnosis and therapy."
Professor David Webb, Director of the Education Programme at the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility (WTCRF) said: "We are delighted to receive this support from NES, which recognises the quality of our well-established education programme in Edinburgh and will allow us to create from it a national resource.
"This initiative, the first of its kind in the country, will use modern and efficient methods to provide greater access to education and training in clinical research methodology, tailored to suit individual needs. This unique programme will allow us the opportunity to collaborate with other clinical research facilities throughout Scotland, to the benefit of existing researchers, and we hope inspire future researchers across Scotland."
Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust says: "The quality of the research undertaken at the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility in Edinburgh is extremely high and we are delighted to be able to provide further support. I am pleased that the facility will encourage collaboration amongst clinical researchers across Scotland and amongst the wider UK network of clinical research facilities."