Showcasing the CRP Role: Attending the MFT NMAHP Conference 2026

The theme of this year’s annual Nursing, Midwifery, and Allied Health Professionals (NMAHP) Conference at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) was ‘Nurturing a New Era of Healthcare Together: Empowering Care Transitions Between Hospital and Community”. Two Clinical Research Practitioners (CRPs) saw this as a fantastic opportunity to showcase the vital role of CRPs in the modern NHS. Sharon Morrison and Shannon Galgani both successfully submitted abstracts for presentation at the conference. Here each talks about the work they presented and their experiences of attending the conference.

From Clinic to Couch: Remote Research Visits in the STARR Study – Shannon Galgani, Senior CRP and PhD Student

Shannon’s spoken presentation was in front of a live audience at Wythenshawe Hospital where Shannon explained: “The STARR study, led by CI Dr Paul Marsden, investigated whether the triggers and sensations associated with coughing changed after standard of care treatment.^[1]

Fellow CRP Nadia Rashid and I recruited 80 participants from the Manchester Cough Clinic to this study yet noted several patient-reported barriers to participation. This included time constraints, travel distance, and difficulty attending the ward/clinic during working hours due to work or caring responsibilities. Clinical appointments increasingly being moved to virtual platforms also made it difficult to align face-to-face research visits with clinical visits.

To address this, I led a study amendment that allowed participants to complete the research visits remotely after consent. Participants could take home a study pack or receive it by courier: allowing them to complete the procedures at a time and date that suited them, with researcher support provided by telephone as needed.

Recruitment increased by 65 per cent in the five months after remote visits were introduced, compared to the five months prior! Participant feedback was positive, with many choosing to receive/pick up their remote pack on a weekday and complete the materials over the weekend.

Overall, we demonstrated that remote research visits improved inclusivity, recruitment and adherence to study timelines.”

Shannon added: “It’s been fantastic to learn more of the work conducted by fellow NMAHP and CRP colleagues, as well as develop my own presentation skills by presenting this data orally and as a poster”.

Supporting Community-Based Research into Childhood Obesity – Sharon Morrison, CRP

Sharon showcased her work at a poster presentation on the Manchester Royal Infirmary Oxford Road Campus site.

The poster detailed the impact CRPs are having on increasing accessibility to research for parents and children. Sharon explained: “I felt the theme perfectly aligned with the work being carried out by myself and my CRP colleague, Nathan Sullivan, on a community-based research study focused on reducing childhood obesity: HENRY III^[2] .”

The study investigates the effectiveness of a community-based support programme delivered in local children’s centres. Sharon’s poster highlighted how CRPs removed common research barriers, such as the costs and time associated with travel and childcare, by conducting home visits for questionnaires and measurements.

Sharon said “I now know how to write an abstract and have learnt new skills related to producing an impactful poster. I also found attending the conference highly valuable. I enjoyed learning about various projects that align with the government’s ‘left shift’ ambition for the NHS, moving care closer to home”.

A key highlight was the sense of professional acknowledgment. Sharon said: “One of the most significant aspects of the day was the feeling of recognition. Taking a seat alongside my nursing, midwifery, and allied health professional colleagues at the conference felt like a major acknowledgment of CRPs as a valued and integrated part of the NHS workforce.”

Acknowledgements: The STaRR study was supported in part by a research grant from Investigator-Initiated Studies Program of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. The opinions expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of MSD Sharp & Dohme Corp. Shannon Galgani is supported by the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR203308).

 

^{[1] References: King, J., Galgani, S., Digby, J.W., Mitchell, J., Holt, K.J., Dockry, R.J., Parker, S.M., Prior, K.,Sawyer, C., Yorke, J. and Smith, J.A., 2025. Clustering patients with chronic cough using reported sensations and triggers: results from the Triggers and Sensations Provoking Coughing questionnaire. Chest, 168(6), pp.1415-1424.}

^{[2] The HENRY III study. HENRY III is funded by the National Institute for Health & Social Research Public Health Research Programme and jointly sponsored by the Universities of Leeds, York, Bradford, and Sheffield.}