Barriers and hurdles delaying governance approval for an ethically approved nationwide clinical trial in pancreatic cancer.

Backgrounds: Streamlined, expedited clinical research is fundamental to rapidly test, translate and implement novel treatments into routine care to improve patient outcomes. The National Mutual Acceptance (NMA) scheme was designed to expedite the ethics approval process, however, growing concerns exist about the fragmented time-consuming governance process needed to actually commence clinical research in Australia. This study reports hurdles and barriers encountered while seeking governance approval for the SCANPatient trial.

Adjunctive methylphenidate extended release in patients with schizophrenia: Protocol of a single-centre fixed dose cross-over open-label trial to improve functional and cognitive outcomes.

Background: Cognitive symptoms, among the core symptoms of schizophrenia, are associated with poor functional outcome and burden of illness. To date, there is no effective pharmacological treatment for these symptom clusters. Augmentation with psychostimulants has been proposed as a potential treatment option.

Does proactive care in care homes improve survival? A quality improvement project.

Background: NHS England's 'Enhanced Health in Care Homes' specification aims to make the healthcare of care home residents more proactive. Primary care networks (PCNs) are contracted to provide this, but approaches vary widely: challenges include frailty identification, multidisciplinary team (MDT) capability/capacity and how the process is structured and delivered.

Aim: To determine whether a proactive healthcare model could improve healthcare outcomes for care home residents.