CRN North East and North Cumbria PRES Toolkit

View the PDF version of the PRES Toolkit for Principal Investigators (please note that this is not an accessible PDF, but the content on this page is the accessible version).

What is PRES?

The Participant in Research Experience Survey (PRES) is the way in which the NIHR Clinical Research Network North East and North Cumbria captures feedback from research participants to better understand their experience of taking part in research.

PRES is a short online survey completed by participants. Participants can either complete the survey at the clinic using a device provided by the study team, or by themselves at home.

PRES is simple to set up and does not require ethical approval.

"The staff and research team have been fantastic. I have felt very well looked after and valued during my time on the trial.” - Research Participant

Why is PRES important?

“We believe it is important to give people who take part in health research the chance to tell us what it is like. We value their support and want to make their research experience as positive as possible. PRES also benefits study teams by allowing them real-time access to participant survey results. This means that they can respond quickly to any opportunities to improve participant experiences.” - Professor Caroline Wroe, Clinical Director for the NIHR Clinical Research Network North East and North Cumbria

How does PRES work?

The digital survey can be accessed via the digital PRES app. Once you have logged in and selected the relevant study, site and survey form, you will be given three options:

Load Survey Form

This brings up the survey on your device and allows the participant to complete the survey straight away.

Create Survey Code

This generates a survey code which you can write on a card and give to the participant. The participant can enter the code on the PRES app and complete the survey at home in their own time.

We provide PRES cards for this purpose - please email nenccommunications@nihr.ac.uk if you would like to order some.

Email Survey Link

You enter the participant's email address and a unique survey link is emailed to the participant directly. The participant clicks on the link to access the survey.

If you have a large study with many participants who would like to complete PRES, we also offer the following options:

Batch Email Links

We can arrange to send unique survey links to ten or more participants via email. The participants must all be on the same study, at the same site and using the same survey form. Please send the list of email addresses, study ID, site and survey name to nuth.nencpres@nhs.net to arrange this option.

Create a Prefab Link

We can create a prefabricated link that leads directly to a study-, site– and survey-specific form. You can then email the link to as many participants on that study and at that site as you wish. This option allows you to personalise emails to participants; however, care must be taken to blind copy (bcc) participants into any batch emails you send for data protection purposes. Please email nencbusinessintelligence@nihr.ac.uk to discuss this option.

If it is your first time using PRES, you do not have to let us know in advance - simply create a new login by clicking "sign up", select your study and survey form and choose one of the three options. Please contact us if you cannot find your study on the list.

“The experience has been very easy and accessible. The staff are always welcoming and friendly and very good at explaining everything.” - Research Participant

What are the PRES questions?

There are five different sets of PRES questions:

General adult survey questions
0-6yr Old Survey questions
7-11yr Old Survey questions
12-15yr Old Survey questions
It’s Okay to Say No survey, which allows us to gather feedback from people who chose not to take part in research.

How can PRES benefit my study?

There are many benefits of using PRES for your study:

Improve service for current and future participants. This means that participants are less likely to drop out of studies, more likely to participate in future studies, and more likely to promote your study/research to others
Gather information during the pilot stage of your study before launching your main study
Convince ethics or R&D of the acceptability of your study design and approach.
Identify issues with failing studies
Feed into research papers/outcomes
Inform the design of future studies

View our FAQ page

What are the questions on the survey?

What will happen with the answers the participants provide?

How can I access live feedback from the completed PRES questionnaires?

Quick links

Contact

NIHR Clinical Research Network North East and North Cumbria

Justine Smith, Senior Strategic Manager: justine.smith@nihr.ac.uk
Communications Team: nenccommunications@nihr.ac.uk