Welcome to InSites by EMS Healthcare
If you work in clinical research today, you don't need reminding that the landscape is changing fast. What you do need are practical insights into what's actually working - and what's holding studies back.
That's why we're launching InSites - a monthly newsletter sharing what we see working across our community research network.
Dr Clare Grace
Published 19 January 2026
Clinical research
InSites is for sponsors and CROs navigating increasingly demanding protocols - particularly in therapeutic areas where participant recruitment and retention define success. Each month, we'll explore what's shaping trial delivery: the participant experience, the design decisions that accelerate enrolment, and the factors that ultimately determine whether studies succeed or stall.
Delivering Studies That Work in the Real World
The barriers to successful trial delivery aren't always scientific, they're often practical.
Time off work, childcare conflicts, travel to distant sites, appointment schedules that don't flex. For many people, traditional clinical research simply doesn't fit into real life.
The downstream effects are predictable: slow enrolment, dropout rates that climb over months, protocol deviations that accumulate, and data that becomes progressively less robust.
The Participant-Centred Approach
Evidence increasingly shows that reducing participant burden isn't just good ethics - it's good science. And the barriers worth addressing aren't always obvious:
- Inflexible visit windows that penalise work schedules
- Geographic placement that assumes car ownership
- Long distances to clinical research sites, adding to travel expenses
These aren't rare occurrences. They're systematic exclusions that narrow the participant pool and compromise inclusivity - and they're solvable through thoughtful protocol design and effective site selection.
When we fit trials around real lives, there is a shift. Recruitment accelerates, retention improves markedly over long durations, protocol adherence strengthens. And crucially, studies reach populations that standard designs routinely exclude.
The insight: participant experience and data quality aren't competing priorities. They're the result of effective protocol design and site selection.
How Our Model Addresses These Challenges
At EMS Healthcare, we believe ground-breaking research shouldn't be limited by geography or accessibility. That's why we create community-based research sites that meet participants where they are - reducing burden, broadening representation, and opening doors that conventional models leave closed.
We bridge the traditional site network model with data-driven precision (through tools like our LASER location intelligence platform) to make clinical trials faster and more inclusive. By embedding research in the centre of communities and actively recruiting and engaging local populations, we change what's possible for participant recruitment and retention.
This isn't about convenience alone. It's about whether your study population will reflect the real-world patients who'll eventually use these therapies.
The result? Accelerated recruitment, shortened timelines, a better patient experience and ultimately better health outcomes for the communities we serve.
Why the UK is the destination for Clinical Trials
Clinical research in the UK is accelerating. The MHRA has cut clinical trial approval times from 91 to an average of just 41 days through AI-driven digital reform, setting the pace for global innovation.
Research is a national priority in the UK. NHS-linked health records enable efficient feasibility and targeted enrolment, while regulatory reforms help sponsors move from planning to activation faster - combining speed, scale and operational confidence.
Access to under-represented populations across socioeconomic, geographic and ethnic minority backgrounds ensures studies recruit at pace and generate data that reflects real-world use.
Ready to Capitalise on UK Momentum
EMS Healthcare takes clinical research into new participant pools, as our community-based sites reduce participant burden, accelerate recruitment and bring trials closer to the people who need them.
Our model delivers:
- Rapid site activation across the UK
- Proven scalability from niche to large-scale studies
- Access to under-represented populations
The UK offers the infrastructure, regulatory environment and patient access that modern trials demand. We're ready to help you make the most of it.
Working in Partnership
Our participant-focused approach works at scale through collaboration with leading industry partners.
EMS Healthcare is part of Parexel's Site Alliance Program - a curated network of more than 300 clinical research sites and 16,000 investigators worldwide. We also hold formal partner status with Worldwide Clinical, and collaborate with a number of CROs such as PPD/Thermo Fisher, Syneos, IQVIA, ICON, Fortrea, and Premier Research - all of whom share our commitment to participant access and inclusive research. These partnerships enable us to deliver our community-based model at scale while maintaining the focus on recruitment, retention, and participant experience that complex protocols demand.
In future editions of InSites, we'll share more about our partnerships and explore in depth how tools like LASER are transforming site selection and participant engagement.
Join the Conversation
Each month, we'll share practical perspectives informed by over two decades of community-based experience, shaped by the realities of modern trial delivery, and strengthened through collaborative partnerships.
I look forward to continuing the conversation.
Dr Clare Grace, CEO, EMS Healthcare