Clinical trials are typically more complex than other types of research. They require careful planning, close collaboration across teams and, in some cases, regulatory approval from bodies such as the MHRA. To meet high ethical, legal, and safety standards, clinical trials follow detailed protocols and often involve specialised procedures and assessments. Planning and set up can be a more complex process than other types of research.Our Clinical Research Facilitators guide researchers through each stage of the process, offering expert support on study design, sponsorship, and approvals. Working alongside them, our Clinical Trial Monitors, Quality Assurance and Pharmacovigilance teams provide support with trial set-up and oversight - helping ensure your trial is well-designed, compliant, and ready to recruit. Our teams bring a wealth of experience in delivering clinical trials across Edinburgh. We know what works - and what doesn’t. Trials that are well-funded, realistically timed, designed with quality in mind, and logistically sound are far more likely to succeed. Involving us early means tapping into proven insight that can help avoid common pitfalls and set your study up for success. Clinical trial support Clinical Research Facilitators are your first point of contact for setting up a clinical trial. They guide you from the earliest stages, helping shape your research question, advising on design, costings, documentation and approvals, ensuring your trial is feasible and compliant. Quality assurance Quality assurance (QA) ensures every study we support meets the highest regulatory, ethical, and scientific standards. Through proactive oversight, robust systems, and continuous improvement, we protect participants, maintain compliance, and ensure the credibility of trial data. Monitoring The ACCORD Monitoring team provides Sponsor oversight for clinical research, ensuring participant safety, data integrity, and regulatory compliance. Using a risk-based approach, monitoring strategies are tailored to each study to support research teams from set-up to close-out. Pharmacovigilance Pharmacovigilance (PhV) is the science of detecting, assessing, understanding, and preventing adverse effects of medicines. This section provides further information on PhV requirements and safety reporting procedures. This article was published on 2025-09-22
