About us
PCRA and the NIHR: partners, not competitors
We're often asked whether PCRA competes with the NIHR. The short answer: no. We work closely with the NIHR, we use NIHR standard pricing, and for many studies the NIHR Research Delivery Network is exactly the right route. We exist for the studies it isn't built for.
Two different jobs
The NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) is the backbone of clinical research delivery in the NHS, and it does that job well. It supports sponsors and CROs to set up and deliver the studies on its national portfolio — clinical trials above all — with established processes, national costing, and deep relationships with the pharmaceutical industry.
The NIHR's eligibility rules mean that many service evaluations, audits and quality-improvement work are not eligible for RDN support. That whole tier of evidence generation — the in-service evaluations, product assessments and real-world evidence that manufacturers and medtech rely on every day — falls outside its remit.
That's where PCRA comes in. We cover the full breadth of investigation in primary care: clinical trials, yes, but also medical device studies, real-world evidence, service evaluations, and regulatory support work — delivered through a different kind of network: around 200 GP practices chosen and matched study by study.
We price to NIHR standards, using the same interactive Costing Tool (iCT) methodology that underpins the National Contract Value Review — the difference is what we deliver and how, not what we charge.
When the NIHR route is the right choice
We'll tell you honestly when it is. The NIHR Research Delivery Network is a strong fit when:
- You have an established relationship. Pharma sponsors who already work with the NIHR, know its processes, and have delivery relationships in place should use them.
- Your study is on the national portfolio. Clinical trials eligible for NIHR support benefit from its national set-up support, standard costing and network of research-active sites.
- An experienced CRO is already delivering through the NIHR. A CRO already delivering through the NIHR often doesn't need us, although we do often support CROs with site identification on complex or larger studies, where existing CRO site relationships have been used and they need more sites.
When PCRA is the right choice
Built for studies that need something different:
- The current set-up isn't working, or studies need rapid set-up. We work fast and to commercial timelines. We can rescue studies — where recruitment has stalled, sites have underdelivered, or timelines have slipped, we re-site and restart quickly.
- You're running a medical device study. Device trials live or die on finding the right site — the right patient population, the right clinical setting, the right team. Site matching is the heart of what we do.
- Your study needs a practice's full attention. Many sponsors need a practice with no competing studies, focused entirely on their trial, working closely with the team, and often to tight timelines. Our network, with its rapid response and rapid study set-up, is built for exactly that.
A network built for focus
Through its Primary Care Commercial Research Delivery Centres programme, the NIHR funds 14 large primary care organisations to run high volumes of commercial trials. Our practices are predominantly the next tier down: highly competent, research-keen GP practices building their research portfolios — and many, though not all, work on one study at a time. That's not a compromise; it's the point. If your study needs a practice's full attention, it will have it.
Part of being a PCRA member is working together to grow as research practices — organically, study by study.
Working together
Many of our sponsors use both routes — the NIHR for their portfolio pharma trials, PCRA where site fit, dedicated focus or a different kind of study matter most. We're glad to talk through which route fits your study, even if the answer is “not us.”
PCRA's founder was a regional NIHR research champion.