Frequently Asked
Questions

To schedule a screening appointment, please contact our recruiters at 0808 134 6555. They will guide you through the process and verify your eligibility. You must schedule your screening appointment with a member of the recruitment team over the phone before attending. Please note that if you attend without a prior appointment, you will be unable to undergo screening or qualify for reimbursement.

British citizens are required to bring in either a passport or driving licence and a national insurance document. EU citizens are required to bring a valid
passport and national insurance document.

The rest of the world is required to bring a valid passport with a valid visa and national insurance document.

NB. Please note volunteers who have dual or multi-nationality will need to bring all valid passports.

People born and resident in the UK are assigned a NI number by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) UK government. The National Insurance number is a number used in the United Kingdom in the administration of the National Insurance or social security system. It is also used for some purposes in the UK tax system. The number is described by the United Kingdom government as a “personal account number”.

You will be compensated for your time and inconvenience, all payments are outlined in the Informed Consent Document, the only exception is if you test positive for drugs of abuse (recreational drugs) during your screening visit, in this case, you will not be compensated.

We have two different options for you to choose from for your payments, direct bank transfer or via Paypal. Payments can take up to 3 weeks after the end of the study to hit your bank account. Most study payments are due after the final follow-up appointment, some studies will offer part payments during the clinical trial. All payments are outlined in the Informed Consent Document.

Volunteers are free to withdraw from a study at any time. This will not affect the standard of care you receive or your legal rights. If you are dosed with a study medicine but withdraw from the study before completion, you will be paid on a proportional basis depending on the length of time you have taken part in the study.

Yes, some studies pay in instalments, it depends on the length of a study, however, the payment schedule will be available within the Informed Consent Document.

Participants who withdraw or are withdrawn even for medical reasons will not always be paid the full amount. The investigator will decide the amount of payment depending on the circumstances. Payments may be reduced, if a participant does not follow the protocol, or may be increased, if the protocol is amended to allow further tests or visits.

If you are dosed with the trial medicine but self-withdraw or you are withdrawn from the trial before completion, you will be paid proportional to your involvement and the procedures undergone.

We require your GP details to not only inform your GP of your interest in taking part in a clinical trial but also to request your medical history for our doctors to review and ensure your eligibility for the clinical trial. Apart from this exception, all the information about your participation in this clinical trial will be kept confidential.

Our doctors will review your medical history in the form of a questionnaire filled out by your GP or medical summary. This will then be stored on your profile on our secure database, all information is treated as strictly confidential.

We will follow ethical and legal practices and all information about you will be handled in confidence. Data storage timelines vary depending on the study sponsor, the time data is stored can be up to 25 years.

Sometime after the clinical trial completes we will let you know the results in simple, non-scientific language.

The majority of blood results are available within 48hours, some studies have specific tests which can take longer to report. Our staff will update you as soon as the results are reported. If requested, we can forward your blood results in the form of a PDF file via email.

Medication washout periods vary. Our study doctors will be able to advise you of the washout period on a case-by-case basis.

We have a minimum period of 3 months before dosing, so as long as you weren’t dosed then it should be ok but we will do a TOPS check when you come in for screening, a TOPS check will confirm that you are not enrolled in another study.

You need to be within the clinical trial age group at screening and dosing.

There is no guarantee that you will not be a reserve on any admission. Reserves are selected based on results. If all results are within the study’s parameters, we then dose in order of which you screened. We will do our best to ensure that reserve volunteers can take part in another group of the study if possible.

You may only screen for one study at a time.

A referral fee will be payable if someone you have referred is dosed on a study. No payment will be made if they just attend a screening visit.

Typically, we schedule screening appointments between 8 am and 3 pm daily Monday through to Friday, although screening slots are allocated across numerous studies. The morning/early afternoon is preferable to accommodate logistics with clinical and laboratory staff members and services associated with these, also certain procedures are best conducted in the mornings (eg some enzyme readings). We occasionally screen at weekends, however, this is not available regularly.

Typically, screening can take around 4-6 hours. Screening starts with an information session, then if you’re comfortable to proceeding to a consenting session, following consent, screening procedures will commence, the time for these is very dependent on the specific screening procedures for the study.

We don’t encourage volunteers to bring children to a screening appointment. However, if this is absolutely necessary, we suggest you bring someone to help with looking after your child. Some screening procedures e.g. ECG readings, require volunteers to lie on a bed completely still for 10mins.

No, to take part in a study with PAREXEL you must be registered with an NHS GP surgery in the UK for at least 3 months.

Screening is for mixed sexes, for the in-house portion of the study we have wards in the clinic, each having multiple beds. Beds are arranged by study, so there is a chance that both sexes will share a ward. The toilets and showers are all gender-neutral and in the same block.

We are not able to guarantee a place on a study, however, we screen the appropriate number of people according to pre-determined screen fail ratios, therefore giving anyone who passes their screening procedures a very good chance of making it to admission, wherever permitted we try and fit volunteers onto the next cohort if they are within the screening window.

Whilst we are in the pandemic, we are unable to accommodate visitors. In non-pandemic times, if you are participating in a study with a long in-house period (>14nights), we will do our best to accommodate family visits, the number of visitors will be limited to a maximum of 2, the visitors will not be allowed to enter the clinic area, however, they will have access to the reception area within the clinic.

A ‘reserve’ volunteer is someone who has passed all the screening criteria and is invited for the study admission. The reserve is not dosed unless a confirmed volunteer drops out or is unable to be dosed. The reserve subject can usually leave the unit when dosing is complete for those volunteers confirmed. There is a reduced reserve payment. Reserve payment allowances can be found in the ICD.

You must attend an individual screening for each study. Each study has varying assessments and blood/urine tests that are performed.

The clinical trial protocols will outline what you must have to be on the trial (inclusion criteria) and what you may not have (exclusion criteria). Some trials may allow you to be on certain medication, however most trials require that you are not on any regular medications or hormone or other therapies for a duration of time. Each protocol is different and we will advise you of the requirements per trial.

At each of our Early Phase units, Parexel strives to be inclusive of all trial participants regardless of disability, race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, biological sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or age. Trials are governed by protocols that define the requirements for that particular trial. Protocols also include inclusion and exclusion criteria – those characteristics a person must have (or not have) to be eligible to join a study. Parexel will recruit and include participants to comply with these requirements. Ensuring trial participants are representative of the target population is crucial to the success of the study.

“Recreational drugs” is a loose term that refers to legal and illegal drugs that are used without medical supervision. There are four categories of recreational drugs: analgesics, depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens. We test for all of these at screening and on admission to the unit.

As we do not know the full effects of the investigational medicine early in its development so we do not want the volunteer mothering/fathering a child during our studies or for 3 months after when taking a medicine that could possibly interfere with or harm the baby. The three months are important as that is how long a male takes to make sperm.

You need to join the trial as your gender of birth because men and women break down medicines differently in the body. This needs to be considered in Clinical Trial Research to ensure your health and wellbeing.

WONCBP means “Women of non-childbearing potential”, this includes post-menopausal women, who have had their wombs removed, or are surgically sterile.

As with any medicine, marketed or not, there is always a potential for side effects. Within all our studies and throughout any procedures carried out your safety and welfare is of primary importance. Information regarding any possible side effects of the study medicine can be found in the Informed Consent Document and may be discussed with one of the study doctors.

The standard washout period from a previous study medicine is typically 3 months from your last dosing date. However, it depends on the next study you wish to participate in and its’ specific exclusion criteria.

Volunteers are required to remain in the unit for the full duration of the admission period. The requirements are outlined on the study dates information sheet and the Informed Consent Document.

There will be food restrictions that apply per study and are often applied before to screening and/or admission. Food and other restrictions are noted in the Informed Consent Document and can vary from study to study. The food and beverages provided during the clinical trial are also an important factor in ensuring the safety and well-being of participants, as certain foodstuffs may interact with the trial medicine. It is therefore important that you only consume the foods and drinks provided. At the time of admission to the unit, any food items brought into the unit will be removed. During the in-house stays, participants are prohibited from swapping, saving, and/or storing food. All food and drinks supplied must be consumed at the time they are provided and at the location that they are served. Please note that hot drinks are decaffeinated and are only served with meals. Currently, we do not cater to vegans.

You’ll need to bring a toothbrush, toothpaste, bath towel, deodorant, soaps, shampoo/conditioner, etc. Please do not bring mouth wash. Due to limited storage space on the wards, participants are advised to bring belongings and clothing in a soft material bag, (maximum size of 22in x 16in x 8in /
55cm x 40 cm x 20m (length x width x height)) which can be folded away, once items are transferred to a bedside locker. Loose-fitting clothes are more appropriate to allow easy access to attach ECG leads and Heart monitors. Parexel will not be responsible for the loss or theft of personal items.

A laundry service will be provided to participants who are on in-house stay trials for longer than 7 days. The laundry schedule can be provided to you at the time of admission. Note the laundry service is not suitable for ‘dry clean only’ items.

If you hold private medical insurance, you will be advised to check with the company that provides this insurance before agreeing to take part. This is to make sure that you will not affect your medical insurance by being in a clinical trial.

There is a prayer room in the hospital and it may be possible for a member of staff to escort you at certain times during the study. It will not be possible during times that study assessments need to be performed.

Volunteers are required to be available for all study visits. If you cannot attend the follow-up visits for one cohort you will not be able to take part, however, there may be later cohorts with suitable dates.

An occasional staff member does wear latex gloves if they have an allergy to non-latex gloves.

Sorry, we are unable to provide alternative milk and lactose intolerance would exclude you from most of our studies.

A long-term physical health condition (also known as a Chronic condition) is a health problem that requires ongoing management for years or decades. An example is; arthritis.

A long-term physical health condition cannot currently be cured but can be controlled with the use of medication and/or other therapies. Diabetes is a good example.

Serious injury means an injury or illness that: Results in permanent impairment of a bodily function or permanent damage to a body structure, or necessitates medical or surgical intervention to preclude permanent impairment of a body function or permanent damage to a body structure.

Smoking is not permitted within the hospital grounds and is not allowed for most studies.

It all depends on the inclusion/exclusion criteria for each study.

If you are related to anyone who works for Parexel or the Sponsor this will exclude you from screening/taking part in studies.