Research Ready

Gain quality assurance, specialist resources and national recognition for your practice. Join Research Ready® to accredit your practice and lead primary care research.

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About Research Ready

Research Ready® is a quality assurance programme for all research-active UK GP practices. It is designed in line with the UK Research Governance Framework's legal, ethical, professional, and patient safety requirements. The programme serves to provide information, support, guidance and accreditation to practices in research; both to assist with meeting the requirements above, and with considering and conducting research.

Research Ready® gives access to training and support for the whole practice team to upskill them to engage with research. It can be used by all practice staff, both clinical and non-clinical (GPs, nurses, practice management, administrators).

Full list of Research Ready Accredited practices (XLS file, 62KB)

Benefits to joining Research Ready

1

Official accreditation

Receive a certificate demonstrating your practice meets NHS Health Research Authority standards for legal, ethical, professional, governance and patient safety compliance.

2

GP Practice network

Join a collaborative network of accredited GP practices dedicated to research excellence and shared primary care learning.

3

Free online resources

Access free templates, case studies, articles created by the RCGP, RDN and fellow practices to support your research projects.

4

Research updates

Get regular updates on local and national research projects, opportunities, and key developments from the RDN, RCGP, and partners.

Steps to joining Research Ready

  1. Nominate someone at your practice (for example, GP, nurse, practice manager) to act as the named 'Research Lead'

    Go to the Research Ready website and sign up for an account

  2. Once registered, log in to the system and begin accreditation; this involves completing two surveys
    • Practice information – the practice's research status, interests, etc
    • Quality statements – confirming the practice's awareness and meeting of governance standards
  3. Pay the relevant administration fee:
    • £100 for one year of accreditation
    • £250 for three years of accreditation
  4. Access / Download / Print your accreditation certificate.

The RCGP eLearning Research Ready course

The RCGP eLearning website includes a series of four eLearning modules on Research Ready® developed by active General Practitioners and researchers.

The course is an introduction on how to set up, host and deliver research projects in primary care. Four modules, alongside two assessments make up the course.

RCGP Research Ready® users can login to their Research Ready account, and click on 'RCGP Learning' in the home page to access the course. The course can also be accessed by RCGP Students, GP registrar and GP Foundation Members.

Further information

For further information on Research Ready® including background to the programme, benefits to accreditation and more, please view our user guide.

User guide (PDF file, 364 KB)

Any queries related to Research Ready® can be sent via email to Research.Ready@rcgp.org.uk.

Research Ready® was developed with:

These bodies are responsible for developing primary care research infrastructure and delivery across the UK's four devolved nations.