About us

Good quality research improves treatments and services for everyone. As one of the largest mental health, learning disability and neurorehabilitation NHS Trusts in England, we enjoy a significant research profile, as one of the most research active mental health Trusts in England. We support and facilitate the delivery of research and innovation across the organisation and beyond into the wider health system. In a typical year we run between 50 and 60 large scale NIHR portfolio adopted research projects, alongside many other research studies and evaluations. Our strategic aims for research are:

1. Research is embedded into services and practice in CNTW
2. Research in CNTW is co-produced and available to all users of CNTW services
3. CNTW is a leader and an influencer in local and national research networks and partnerships
4.  We enable research through innovative approaches to using data and digital methods
5. We support and enable our staff to be involved in research at all levels of the organisation

Our Research Success

Evidenced based practice is the cornerstone of the NHS and it is clear that research active organisations have better quality of care and better patient outcomes; every therapy and clinical intervention should be based on the research that underpins it.
To ensure we are able to do this systematically, we are able to draw on some of the country’s best mental health and learning disability clinical academic researchers working in, and with, our Trust.

CNTW is unique in offering some highly specialist services, which in turn allows us to support research in a range of specific areas. We are regarded as research leaders in autism, affective disorders, CBT and dementia.

We are also an integral part of the regional infrastructures which support research. We host the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria (ARC-NENC), which is a collaboration involving 84 NHS, 35 public health, 18 social care and 31 voluntary and community sector bodies across NENC. The ARC aims to improve the health of the population of NENC through research in health and social care and its implementation into practice. We are also a partner in the Academic Health Science Centre – Newcastle Health Innovation Partners, – along with Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals (NuTH), Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council and the NENC Academic Health Science Network (AHSN). This aims to translate internationally recognised science and innovation into improvements in the health of the population.