How to manage market research out of hours March 20, 2019 When conducting healthcare market research, it’s not uncommon to need to carry out research out of hours, especially when engaging with healthcare professionals with antisocial working hours or even just fitting in around patients’ busy lives. Whether you’re conducting an in-depth interview or a market research online community, a focus group or an ethnographic study, all out of hours market research requires careful organisation to ensure that your study goes off without a hitch. From scheduling to software testing, here are a few of our tried and tested tips to make sure your healthcare research runs as smoothly as possible. written by GKA Read more
How does NHS England work? March 20, 2019 NHS England leads the National Health Service in England. It’s an independent body whose main role is to set the priorities and direction of the NHS, whilst at the same time improving health and care across England. NHS England was created in 2013 as part of sweeping reforms aimed at improving services by increasing competition, cutting red tape and keeping the government out of the day-to-day running of the NHS. written by GKA Read more
What is the Care Quality Commission? March 12, 2019 The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. They work with hospitals, GP surgeries, dental practices, care homes and other health services to ensure they provide safe, effective, compassionate and high-quality patient care – whilst at the same time encouraging care services to improve. As well as registering care providers, the CQC also monitors, inspects and rates services, takes action to protect people who use care services and publishes its view on quality issues in health and social care. written by GKA Read more
Recruiting hard-to-reach respondents: six steps to success February 28, 2019 The quality of your participants is paramount to the success of your study. Good participants can be the difference between insightful, in-depth results that fulfil your objectives and fieldwork that just falls a bit flat. Let’s face it – it’s tricky to find terrific respondents these days, even when you’re working with the most generic of target audiences. But add low incidence rate diseases and HCPs who specialise in rare therapy areas into the mix and you’ve got even more work to do. Don’t worry though – it can be done! Here’s our six-step guide on how to recruit hard-to-reach participants so your medical fieldwork recruitment goes smoothly, no matter how strict your criteria. written by GKA Read more
How the NHS budget has changed February 18, 2019 When the NHS first began back in 1948, it had a budget of £427 million – which, allowing for inflation, is equal to around £15 billion today. However, in the last few decades, this budget has spiralled to around £124 billion. And whilst funding continues to grow, the NHS never seems to have enough funding to cover its huge growth in costs since its inception 70 years ago. written by GKA Read more
Who’s who in oncology? February 12, 2019 Medical oncologists are doctors who diagnose, assess, treat and manage patients with cancer. In the UK, the four most common types of cancer are breast, lung, prostate and bowel – but there are actually more than 200 different types of cancer, which can make it difficult to recruit the right participants for your healthcare fieldwork research. written by GKA Read more