Smart recruitment in mental health research: NIHR Mental Health TRC workshop highlights

Stakeholders from across the mental health research landscape gathered at the Science Gallery in London for a workshop hosted by the NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC) Mission’s Data & Digital workstream. 

The NIHR MH-TRC is led by the NIHR Maudsley BRC and Oxford Health BRC, the UK’s two BRCs which focus on mental health. It brings together leading experts in early-stage translational research, connecting people and organisations across the UK, supported by NIHR infrastructure.  

The workshop focused on the continuous challenge of how to improve participant recruitment for mental health clinical trials and cohorts using data-driven approaches.  

The event featured four themed sessions, with an emphasis on hearing the voices of those with lived experience of mental ill health. NIHR Maudsley BRC led the third session of the event, which focused on using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to unlock insights from patient health records.  

The day began with a welcome and introductory speech from Professor Ann John, MH-TRC Mission Data & Digital Co-lead, and member of the NIHR Maudsley BRC’s Independent Scientific Advisory Panel.  

The first formal speaker was Amy Chidley, a cross-sector Lived Experience Facilitator involved with the MH-TRC Mission demonstrator site in Birmingham, the Mental Health Mission Midlands Translational Centre. 

Amy’s presentation, “My story, your data, our impact”, was a personal account which highlighted the complexities of mental health diagnoses. Amy’s key message was that misdiagnosis leads to misclassification in data, which in turn limits the quality and utility of mental health research, success of dissemination, and clinical approval and implementation of its findings. 

Jon Bartlett, a Facilitator who lives and works with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, offered a similarly moving reflection. He described instances where inaccurate information in his medical records caused confusion and distress during clinical interactions. John’s story served as a powerful reminder that behind every data point is a person, and that trust in research depends on having accurate data.    

Session 1: Highlighting MH-TRC Mission’s workstreams and demonstrator sites.  

• Mood Disorders Network: Workstream Project Manager Mary Wilson discussed plans to build a cohort of 2,000 people with treatment-resistant depression, recruited via primary care records, specialist referrals, digital registries like NIHR’s Be Part of Research, and social media outreach  

• Mental Health Mission Translational Centre: Research Project Manager Dr Opeyemi Odejimi at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust shared progress on the DECODE regional digital registry, which uses primary care and specialist clinic referrals to support clinical trial recruitment and aims to enroll 500 participants over two years  

• Early Psychosis Registry: Early Psychosis workstream Co-Lead Professor Graham Murray introduced the Early Intervention Mission, which seeks to create the UK’s largest digital registry of people with early psychosis and partnership with NHS DigiTrials Recruitment Service, a national service designed to support participant recruitment  

• Mental Health Research Innovation Centre (M-RIC): Mental Health Nurse and researcher Oladayo Bifarin and Programme Manager Michelle Harvey from Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust presented on Count Me In, an innovative opt-out research recruitment model developed by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and being trialed in the Merseyside region, which aims to make participation more inclusive and less administratively burdensome  

Session 2: The broader infrastructure underpinning research data in the NHS.  

• Sub-national Secure Data Environments (SDEs): Dr Jim Hughes, Director of Digital and Data Programmes at M-RIC provided the update that 9 of the 12 sub-national SDEs, which provide access to regional datasets, are already operational, with the final 3 anticipated to be going live soon  

• NHS DigiTrials: Professor Matt Sydes, Head of Data-Driven Clinical Trials at NHS England, gave a talk on the capabilities of NHS DigiTrials, including both the Feasibility Self-Service (FSS) tool, and the Recruitment Service   

Session 3: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to unlock insights from structured and unstructured data, including clinicians’ notes and patient narratives.  

• CogStack: Professor of Medical Bioinformatics at King’s College London, Deputy Director of the NIHR Maudsley BRC and Informatics Theme Lead, Richard Dobson discussed CogStack, an NLP platform, and its ability to identify free-text data across NHS systems, which could be applied to help identify potential trial or cohort participants who might otherwise be missed using structured data alone  

• Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS): Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology & Clinical Information at King’s College London, and Informatics Deputy Theme Lead at NIHR Maudsley BRC, Rob Stewart shared how the CRIS platform at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust is enabling researchers to use both structured and unstructured data to gain a fuller picture of patient populations, which could also ultimately support smarter recruitment strategies  

Session 4: Working more effectively with primary care data systems.  

• Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD): Dr Tim Williams, Head of Interventional Research, reflected on lessons learned from CPRD’s involvement in mental health trials to date. He acknowledged challenges in timelines and emphasised that despite digital infrastructure, real-world recruitment via CPRD still requires coordination with individual GP practices. 

Reflecting on the success of the day, Dr Saskia Sanderson, MH-TRC Mission Data Science Lead said: “The workshop was a timely and necessary gathering of minds, reminding us that solving participant recruitment challenges in mental health research is not just a technical issue, it’s a human one.  

“By listening to those with relevant lived experiences, investing in better infrastructure, and embracing innovation, we can build a more inclusive and effective mental health research ecosystem.  

“As data continues to reshape the future of healthcare, we must remember that data isn’t just numbers. It’s stories, lives, and opportunities to help more people more efficiently and effectively.  
 
“Thank you to everyone who was involved in making this workshop such a successful and insightful event.”