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A week in the life of…

Passion for patients

Taking the trial to the patient

A short series of a week in the life of some of our key roles. Highlighting some of the different roles here at Illingworth, we have a range of unique and interesting roles for clinical professionals. We appreciate that our people are at the heart of all we do and continuing to innovate clinical trial delivery. We run an active recruitment program and are proud to offer comprehensive packages, training and opportunities for future development focused on attracting the best talent in the industry.

Research Nursing Project Manager

What is an RNPM?

One unique role in clinical trial project management that you may not have heard of is that of the Research Nursing Project Manager; or a “RNPM”.

At Illingworth Research Group such a unique role is being utilised to deliver our projects through the coordination of patient centric “off-site” study visits. The RNPMs all have a nursing or a life sciences background, most are registered nurses and have significant experience in the operational delivery of both clinical trials and clinical care.

The work isn’t always 9 to 5 as the RNPMs manage global projects and ensure that support is available for nurses who see patients around the clock! This flexible service ensures that patient’s can continue with their normal routines, that visits are conducted to the protocol defined windows and it increases the recruitment and retention rates of clinical trials.

Research Nursing Project Coordinator

What is an RNPC?

As Research Nurse Project Coordinators (RNPCs) we assist the Research Nurse Project Managers in the day to day running of their research projects. The job is really in the title, ‘Project Coordinator’. We coordinate the smooth running of the project, from arranging “off-site” project visits with the Research Nurse (RN), to ensuring that the RN has all the equipment needed for that visit. It is a very diverse, busy role that comes with challenges, but we always have the patients’ best interest and safety at the forefront of our minds.

Our RNPCs typically are biomedical science graduates or have experience in the coordination of clinical research within the NHS.

Here is an example of a typical working week, showcasing a request to perform an offsite visit.

Research Nurse

An Illingworth Mobile Research Nurse's week

Illingworth's Research Nurses offer a service which helps to take the clinical trial to the patient, aiming to make the overall clinical trial experience much easier for patients. Illingworth's Nurses operate on a near global scale to ensure we can offer patient centric trials to even some of the most isolated patient populations. All Research Nurses are highly trained, qualified and experienced in pharmaceutical, healthcare, biotechnology and medical device industries, across a range of different therapeutic areas. In the example of a week below we feature one of Illingworth’s full-time Research Nurses who covers London and the South East area.

Patient Concierge Coordinator

An Illingworth Patient Concierge Coordinator week

The role of Patient Concierge Services Coordinator is a busy and varied one, which can provide interesting and unique challenges.  The main purpose of the role is to lessen the impact of clinical trial participation on patients and their families, be that through arranging reimbursement of expenses, managing door-to-door travel requirements, or both.  The level of support provided is flexible and patient led, and is available globally.

At the core of PatientGO® is a focus on providing a positive patient experience which, alongside insights I have gained into the lives of clinical trial patients and their families, motivates and drives me.  The smallest gestures or actions can make a big difference to someone participating in a clinical trial, who usually have to cope with many challenges and difficulties for a variety of reasons.  Being the person that can make a positive difference to someone’s day is, for me, one of the things that makes this role worthwhile.

Medical Photographer

What is the role?

The Medical Imaging team bridge the gap between Medical Illustration departments in hospitals and clinical research, offering a customised clinical trial imaging service to suit each study’s requirements. We are members of and operate under the Code of Practice set out by the Institute of Medical Illustrators (https://www.imi.org.uk/), ensuring that we work within the regulations covering confidentiality, consent, data protection and good clinical practice.

Our underlying challenges are balancing clients’ requirements with the budget restraints, whilst endeavouring to constantly improve image quality and efficiency. This may seem boring or impossible, but every day is different, which keeps the role both challenging and interesting. On any day throughout a typical week any range of the following tasks will be repeated, shared throughout the team or even take complete priority, if required:

Clinical Research Associate

Clinical specialists

The role of a CRA at Illingworth Research is very varied and includes many different tasks, in addition to the ‘standard’ CRA role. I say ‘standard’ CRA role, as I mean with many companies, being a CRA is limited to; site visits, including pre-study visits, initiation, interim monitoring, and close-out visits, and report and letter preparation. Although I am employed as a CRA and perform regular site visits across all types of studies, I have been involved in tasks such as business development, including review of budgets, preparation of monitoring and communication plans, assisting with preparation of staff meetings including presentation of topics, training of company staff and identification of KOLs.

Clinical Trial Administrator

Supporting the smooth running of research

The role of a Clinical Trial Administrator (CTA) can be quite varied depending upon the study drug and the stage within the trial. CTA’s also need to adapt depending upon the involvement and requirements of the client company.

Here we speak with Andrea Pierce one of the CTA’s here at Illingworth Research. “I really enjoy the variety of the roles and the rewards of being a part of the clinical trial from start to finish of that study phase.” We join Andrea during the start-up phase of a study she was working recently. Focusing on progressing both regulatory and ethics submissions.