Review: Strategies to engage clinical staff in subject recruitment

As a Research Ethics Committee (REC) Chair in the National Health Service (NHS), one of the commonest amendments submitted for consideration by RECs relates to the need to manage poor participant recruitment and the failure to meet recruitment targets. This usually involves either extending the duration of the research, which can have significant cost implications, or introducing other strategies that will, if successful, increase recruitment. It is unfortunate that more researchers do not give sufficient consideration to recruitment enhancement strategies during the planning stages of their research.