Shutterstock.com
A Boots pharmacy in Durham is piloting community pharmacy recruitment to clinical trials, as more patients present at pharmacies with common conditions.
The pilot, which will recruit women presenting with urinary tract infections (UTIs) to the DURATION trial, is a partnership between Boots and the University of Oxford’s Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit.
The DURATION trial — funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research — is investigating the optimal length for antibiotic treatment for UTIs that prevents antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The Boots branch in Durham Market Place, Durham, will recruit participants to the trial by asking patients who present with UTI symptoms to take part in the research project.
The DURATION trial, which started in August 2022, began with recruitment in hospitals and general practice before its expansion to the Boots branch. The pilot is aimed to include 1,650 women in total.
Participants are randomised to different treatment durations. They will also be asked to complete a symptom diary and provide urine samples.
The pilot study at the Boots location will check whether recruitment rates and data quality match GP-based recruitment, as well as analyse the practicalities of workflow management, consent processes and sample collection.
More than 4 million prescriptions for UTIs are issued every year, with women being more susceptible to the infection than men. Uncomplicated UTIs in women are one of the seven conditions that can be treated under England’s Pharmacy First service.
Lucy Cureton, senior trial manager at the University of Oxford’s Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit, said: “The introduction of the Pharmacy First pathway has been hugely beneficial. However, it has fundamentally changed where patients present with UTI symptoms. This presents a challenge to primary care clinical trials, where GP surgeries are a key location for recruiting participants.
“We want to show that our research can pivot alongside the changing landscape of healthcare delivery.”
Heather Elliott, director of life sciences and clinical trials at Boots UK, commented: “This partnership demonstrates how community pharmacies can contribute to nationally important research whilst delivering expanded clinical services.
“Our colleagues in Durham are proud to be part of this pilot and to play a role in this important work to address AMR through both evidence-based prescribing and active research participation.”
A report, published in June 2025 and produced by researchers at the University of Liverpool, Manchester Metropolitan University and University College London, said that patients wanted to see more research in community settings.
It added that both patients and healthcare professionals wanted to see more diversity in medicines research and for participation in trials to be made easier.
