Hospital gets highest accreditation for ‘first in human’ clinical trials

The Royal is the first NHS clinical research unit in England that meets the high standards required for early clinical trials

The Clinical Research Unit (CRU) at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital has become the first NHS facility in England to be granted Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) standard and supplementary Phase I Accreditation.

The accreditation means the Royal and the University of Liverpool has the first NHS clinical research unit in England that meets the high standards required for early clinical trials. This is where drugs or other treatments are tested on humans for the first time as part of tightly controlled research projects.

Latest drugs and technologies

MHRA Phase 1 Accreditation will allow the Trust to perform clinical trials in patients with some of the newest treatments under evaluation, to some of the most rigorous set of standards in the world. It will help provide patients with greater access to the very latest drugs and technologies and will bring economic benefits to the city of Liverpool as a centre for global healthcare research.

The MHRA Phase I Accreditation scheme was introduced to improve the safety of clinical research volunteers and assesses the capability of the clinical research unit based on facilities, procedures, training and experience of staff.

This accreditation will allow the Royal, together with the University of Liverpool, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and six other local NHS Trusts that comprise Liverpool Health Partners (LHP), to be at the forefront of clinical developments and drug trials to prevent illnesses, provide faster diagnoses and find new treatments. LHP will make Liverpool a centre for clinical research and excellence, to ensure the benefits of medical research breakthroughs are directly passed onto patients in the region.

Dr Richard Fitzgerald, from the University’s Institute of Translational Medicine and Co-director of the Clinical Research Unit, said: “This will give local patients the opportunity to take part in clinical trials here at the Royal, using the very latest drugs and other treatments, as part of studies that will meet the highest standards within the safest environment.

Hub for world class research

“The Covance-Royal Liverpool University Hospital Clinical Research Unit together with its academic leads will be available for researchers across the Liverpool Health Partners for use in early phase clinical research.”

Royal chief executive Aidan Kehoe said, “This is excellent news for the Trust and our future plans to create the Liverpool BioCampus as a world leading centre in life sciences. Having MHRA Phase 1 Accreditation means we can build on Liverpool’s reputation as a hub for world class research which will help us improve healthcare for patients in the city and beyond.”