In June, Rachel attended the UKTMN Annual Conference in Cardiff, Wales. The annual meeting brought together colleagues from Clinical Trials Units across the UK to discuss current developments, share experiences, and explore future directions in clinical trial delivery.

The conference provided an opportunity to gain an overview of the wide range of clinical trial activities taking place across the UK and to learn about upcoming changes that will shape the clinical trials landscape. Key topics included the implementation of eConsent across Europe, the growing role of artificial intelligence in clinical research, and the development of the new UK government platform, Plan and Manage Health and Care Research, which will streamline the submission and management of clinical trial applications and amendments.

Delegates represented a broad range of therapeutic areas and research organisations, including patient-based clinical trials and healthy volunteer studies. There was a particularly interesting presentation about decentralised trial designs and the challenges associated with implementing eConsent in countries where regulatory acceptance remains variable.

One of the most relevant sessions focused on the Plan and Manage Health and Care Researchplatform. The presentation outlined progress made to date, including pilot testing with selected sponsors and ongoing development to support Research Ethics Committee (REC)-only submissions. Once fully implemented, the platform is expected to consolidate several existing digital systems into a single service for planning and managing health and care research in the UK. The session provided valuable insight into the future submission process for CTIMP applications and highlighted the continued digital transformation of UK clinical trial regulation.

The conference was an excellent opportunity to network with colleagues from across the UK and exchange experiences from different clinical trial settings.

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