Clinical Research Practice

The Arch Medical Practice: Advancing Healthcare Through Research

At The Arch Medical Practice, we are deeply committed to enhancing patient care through robust and impactful clinical research. For over 10 years, we have been a dynamic and forward thinking general practice, serving our community and significantly contributing to primary care research.

Our extensive experience encompasses both commercial and non-commercial trials, consistently delivering high-quality data and successful study outcomes.

We are proud to be an active research site and have achieved RCGP Research Ready approved accreditation. Our affiliation with the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) and the RCGP Research and Surveillance Centre further strengthens our research capabilities and reach.

Dr Colabella is our Research Lead, he is fully registered and has completed Good Clinical Practice training, which is essential for any clinical site lead involved in research. Dr Leigh and Dr Trevelyan have also recently completed GCP training and can and act Sub-Investigators expanding of capacity for research delivery.

Participating in research offers numerous benefits to our patients.
– It can provide a better understanding of their condition , offer additional contact and a partnership relationship with their health professional , and allow them to contribute altruistically to the NHS and the development of better treatments.
– High-quality clinical research studies can provide patients with additional treatment options.
– Furthermore, evidence suggests that patients receiving care in research-active institutions often experience better health outcomes.
– We believe that by participating in high-quality research, our patients may benefit from access to new treatments, interventions, and medicines, or help others to do so in the future.

Our Valued Research Partnerships

Our strong research capabilities are significantly strengthened through our collaborations with key organisations dedicated to advancing healthcare research:

We are proud to have initiated events to become part of the Clinical Research Network (CRN) of Greater Manchester in association with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Our close partnership with the North West Regional Research Delivery Network (RDN) enables us to tap into a broad and diverse patient population and provides comprehensive support with research governance and regulatory approvals.
We are a new active member of the Primary Care Research Alliance, further expanding our collaborative network and enhancing our capacity to participate in large-scale research initiatives and contribute to innovative healthcare solutions.
We are a proud member of the RCGP Research and Surveillance Centre, demonstrating our commitment to advancing primary care research.
Our involvement with CPRD, as evidenced by our completed CPRD study on Autism and LD Quality Improvement Activity, highlights our commitment to using comprehensive, routinely collected data for research purposes.
Active partner and colleague of NWEH delivering software that enables the rapid recruitment of primary care patients enabling sponsors to discover more and deliver better. They enhance the clinical trial experience for participants and sponsors leading to expedited timelines, reduced costs,​Making trials that were impossible, possible
Utilisation and support of the PRISM analytics platform offering real-world insights in to patient populations and enabling rapid contact for research studies.
– The Society for Academic Primary Care: Championing expertise in Academic Primary Care, driving improvements in Primary Care provision.
We are an integral part of Hulme & City Centre South PCN, which collectively serves a patient population of approximately 50,000. We can act as a Participant Identification Centre (PIC) for studies
This expansive collaborative network further enhances our capacity to participate in large-scale research initiatives.

Our Research Journey: Completed Studies

We have a strong track record of successful participation in a variety of studies. Our completed research includes:

  • Regular completion of online studies and questionnaires by Dr. Colabella.
  • DARE Study: Focussing on genetic links in Diabetes.
  • AFGEN Study: Focussing on genetics and Atrial Fibrillation.
  • CPRD: Autism and Learning Disability Quality Improvement Activity.
  • Physical Health screening in SMI
  • Whats the Story
  • EPIC – IBD and Psoriasis trial
  • ID Liver – In Partnership with UoM Liver screening
  • Organisation in primary care: Missed diagnostic opportunities – a retrospective study.
  • PREVENT: National radicalisation survey.
  • WELCOME GP Study: Analysing patient responses.
  • The Safety and Efficacy of Psilocybin in participants with treatment-resistant depression (P-TRD) study. We have already initiated note searches and mail-outs, and recruitment for this study is starting.
  • Help Beat COVID – Covid related study.

Current Research Activity

We are continually reviewing and assessing new research opportunities to expand our portfolio. We try to keep these lists as UpToDate as possible every 6-12 months. 

If you are eligible for any current research projects based on our search criteria, please be assured that you will be contacted directly by our practice. There is no need to proactively seek us out regarding participation in these projects. 

Currently, we are actively involved in:

  • Dare2Think – University of Birmingham NOAC and AF study
  • PROGRESS: We also notably acted as one of four national pilot sites for a pharmacogenetics study, demonstrating our ability to seamlessly integrate research within routine care and achieve exceptional patient engagement. If you are suitable to be tested the GP will discuss this with you on the day of your appointment.
  • DISCOVER Me
  • HEAL-D
  • Acclaim CVD
  • Micrima Study – University of Manchester
  • Breast Density Screening
  • Nash Fatty Liver Study
  • EMBER – Breast Cancer Study.

OpenSAFELY COVID-19 Research

The OpenSAFELY COVID-19 research service provides a secure analytics service that supports COVID-19 research, COVID-19 clinical audit, COVID-19 service evaluation and COVID-19 health surveillance purposes.  

Under the COVID-19 Public Health Directions 2020 NHS England has been directed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to establish and operate the OpenSAFELY service. While each GP practice remains the data controller of its own patient data, they are required under the provisions of s259 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to provide access to de-identified (pseudonymised) patient data through the OpenSAFELY service. 

The service enables individuals (academics, analysts and data scientists) approved by NHS England to run queries on pseudonymised GP and NHS England patient data which is held within the GP system suppliers’ data environments. Controls are in place to ensure that individuals only have access to aggregated outputs from the service (i.e. they cannot access information that either directly or indirectly identifies individuals).

Creating a new NHS England: NHS England and NHS Digital merged on 1 February 2023. All references to NHS Digital now, or in the future, relate to NHS England. Learn more