Shutterstock.com
Both patients and healthcare professionals want to see more diversity in medicines research, according to a report exploring how medicines can better meet the needs of patients, prescribers and manufacturers.
The report on public and healthcare professional views on the lifecycle of medicines, published on 23 June 2025, found that patients and healthcare professionals wanted to see “traditionally excluded” people, such as older people, women, ethnic minorities and children, included in research design and recruitment.
Patients also wanted more research in community settings and opportunities to be involved in research to be made easier to find, the report — funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) — revealed.
The report, produced by researchers at the University of Liverpool, Manchester Metropolitan University and University College London, said: “A past lack of ethnic diversity in research is a concern across all of our participants. Some are conscious that medicines being used today have only been researched among people of European heritage.”
Pharmacists highlighted several barriers to community pharmacy research, including a variation in pharmacy IT systems across different organisations, making it impossible to share information, the report said.
Pharmacists also said there is a lack of pharmacist training in clinical trials and capacity, with the report noting that “only large hospital trusts have the capacity to train a team to dispense for clinical trials”.
There should also be greater public awareness of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s adverse events Yellow Card reporting scheme, and patients want to see more research into the long-term effectiveness and impact of medicines, as well as more research into rare diseases.
The report also said that patients and healthcare professionals felt there was a “lack of strategy” on initiating switches from branded to cheaper generic medicines.
Some patients expressed concern in regards to such a switch, owing to a lack of communication, which could “lead to confusion and occasionally distrust as participants noticed sudden and unexplained changes to names, packaging, shape or colour of their medicines”, it added.
Commenting on the report, Diane Ashiru-Oredope, deputy chief scientist at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: “It’s vital that medicines research reflects the diversity of the population it serves. We strongly support calls to expand research into community settings, improve inclusion of underrepresented groups and break down the barriers that prevent pharmacists and pharmacy professionals, especially in community, from contributing to clinical research.
“Pharmacists are trusted, accessible healthcare professionals, and with the right training, infrastructure and support, they can play a transformative role in making research more inclusive, relevant and impactful for patients across the UK.”
On 16 June 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care announced that patients could use the NHS app to sign up for clinical trials, as part of the NIHR Be Part of Research service.
The service will automatically match patients with studies, and patients will receive push notifications on their phones about relevant new trials they may be eligible for, it added.
