Count Me In :: Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Widening participation in research

We want all patients, service users and carers to have the chance to take part in research.

We are preparing to launch Count Me In so that more people affected by various health conditions can be contacted to know of various research opportunities, up to five years after being a service user. Anyone who does not want to be contacted, can opt out.

Here's a short video explaining what 'Count Me In' is all about:

It means that you may be contacted and asked if you would like to find out more about research activities and opportunities.

It does not mean that you will automatically be enrolled into research. Count Me In is about allowing us to contact you to give you the opportunity to learn about research activities that are relevant to you. Any involvement in research is completely voluntary.

We currently rely on healthcare workers such as doctors and nurses to approach people individually. Soon – by the end of 2024 – we will have completed work on a secure, single database, governed by strict confidentiality and privacy rules. This will enable us to identify and contact more people to take part in various research activities – unless they opt out.

This means:

More people will be informed about research
More people will take part in research
More services will benefit from improvements and innovations
More people will receive better health and social care

Only authorised Mersey Care staff will inform you of potential research activities.

Your data is protected and secure. It is safeguarded by data protection laws, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, May 2018) and by the duty of confidentiality of our health care professionals.

1. Enhance participant recruitment: We will be able to recruit from a more diverse pool of people for research studies. It will speed up the time it takes to recruit participants to trials and studies as the database will pull together information from our systems and enable us to find individuals with the necessary personal circumstances and history to take part in research projects.

2. Personalised communication: We will be able to identify the most suitable people for any research activity and send more personalised messages.

3. Better decisions: Engaging with lots more people will show patterns and provide insights that otherwise might be missed. For example, we may see areas or groups of people who are missing out – and address that in our future research strategies.

4. Enable feedback: It will make it easier to feed back to participants on what has happened with their data and the outcomes of the research.

Opportunities for staff

There will be more opportunities for staff in different roles to get involved in research, as we anticipate an increase in activities. These activities will include clinical trials, testing of new technologies, evaluation of new techniques and service improvements.

The long-term aim

Mersey Care’s strategic intention in its Operational Plan is to deliver world class research and innovation in health and wellbeing; and to shorten the time it takes for effective treatment and interventions to reach those patients and service users who would benefit the most.

Anyone can opt out by:

Calling 0151 351 8476 (lines open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) to receive assistance to complete the online form 
Speaking with your care team.

You can also opt-back in by following the same process above.

Thank you

To everyone who supports research and improvement activities at Mersey Care, a huge thank you. Together, we can make a difference for patients and health care delivery now and in the future.