Practical insights from community-based clinical research
InSites Issue 2 discusses our upcoming trip to the Society for Clinical Research Sites European Summit, and is written by Dr Claire Sears, Head of Business Optimisation at EMS Healthcare and Co-Chair of the SCRS European Committee.
Dr Claire Sears
Published 27 February 2026
Clinical research
We're less than a week away from the SCRS European Site Solutions Summit in Amsterdam, and I'm looking forward to the conversations we'll have with sponsors and CROs about what's working in clinical research delivery - and what we can do better together.
This feels particularly timely, as recent discussions with partners keep returning to the same themes: bridging the gap between ambition and execution in patient-centric research, and what it really takes to deliver at scale.
The evidence from our own experience speaks for itself - since 2021, EMS Healthcare has:
- Engaged over 900,000 participants across 33 sites
- Achieved retention above 90%
- Maintained participant satisfaction above 99%
- Delivered a client NPS of 91.43
A genuine reflection of what community-based research, built around where participants live, work and shop, can achieve.
Why European Collaboration Matters
I was on the SCRS Talks podcast recently with my fellow co-chair Almenia Garvey, discussing what we hope to achieve at the summit. One theme consistently came up: the opportunity for sites and sponsors to collaborate differently.
Sponsors and CROs are looking to design protocols with flexibility and patient-centricity in mind, and are investing in AI, decentralised models and diversity strategies. The ambition is there - and it's genuine.
Where we see opportunity is in execution. How do we ensure site infrastructure supports what the industry is trying to achieve? How do we get trials closer to where patients actually live? And how do we support with reducing overall timelines.
At EMS Healthcare, we've spent over twenty five years gaining community insights to answer these questions. Sites positioned based on patient geography, not just institutional convenience, helping identify where target populations are and how to reach them effectively.
Because the question isn't whether patient-centric research works. It's how we make it work at scale, together.
Pipeline Protection: Building Resilient Site Partnerships
At the SCRS EU Summit, I'll be joining a solution-focused session 'Pipeline Protection: Building Site Resilience', alongside Silvina Baudino, Erik Buntinx, and Roman Fishchuk.
For sponsors and CROs, site resilience translates directly into predictable outcomes: recruitment timelines you can count on, feasibility backed by real data, and retention rates that hold throughout the study.
The panel will be sharing practical approaches we've developed through our years of collective experience in clinical research - it can be a challenging environment for sites, so we are looking forward to sharing some of the strategies we have found successful.
My colleagues will also be speaking at the event. Cassie Kendrew, Chief Operating Officer at EMS Healthcare will be on a panel discussing 'Therapeutic Area Expansion Strategies: Practical approaches to diversifying portfolios, evaluating capabilities, and mitigating risk while scaling growth'. And Dr Nick Probert, Medical Director at EMS Healthcare will be discussing 'ICH GCP E6 (R3) In Practice: Site perspectives on adapting operations and maintaining trial continuity under new guidance.'
The conversation around community-based trials is evolving rapidly. The evidence is clear: when trials come closer to where patients live, recruitment accelerates and retention improves.
That's what EMS Healthcare has been building: community site infrastructure positioned where patient populations are, intelligence that maps patient access and identifies optimal site placement for the duration of the study, and partnerships that allow this model to scale across your portfolio.
Reach out to me, or the team, and we can talk more about the practical ways community-based site infrastructure can accelerate your trial timelines and strengthen retention.
Join the Conversation
Each month, we'll share InSites drawing on over two decades of supporting communities across the UK - what's worked, what we've learned, and what we're seeing in the evolving research landscape.
InSites Issue 2 is written by Dr Claire Sears, Head of Business Optimisation at EMS Healthcare and Co-Chair of the SCRS Europe Summit.