How to embed a culture of research and innovation in routine clinical practice. Inspiring and enabling increased research activity across psychological services in NHS Lanarkshire

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The importance and value of Clinical Psychologists being research-active – the why – have become a truism. The barriers are well-known. Conducting research is typically, and understandably, deprioritised in day-to-day NHS and private practice in favour of clinical duties. Relatively little attention has been given to how to promote greater staff research activity. Culture change is neither simple nor easy: embedding a research culture in routine clinical practice is a complex, long-term goal. This article discusses how we are attempting to cause a step-change in staff enthusiasm, confidence, and competence to conduct mental health research in one Health Board in Scotland. I outline how we have attempted to establish the conditions for staff to consistently add conducting research to the varied duties and responsibilities that they engage in each week. Rather than focusing exclusively on Clinical Psychologists, efforts to promote greater research activity have been pursued equally across the entire Psychological Services workforce irrespective of profession or position. We believe that our workforce becoming more research-active and explicitly focused on innovation will be stimulating and rewarding for individual staff members – contributing to joy at work – and beneficial for the services we work in. The progress that has been made to date would not have been possible without funded research-focused time and explicit support from the Chief Executive of NHS Lanarkshire and the Director of Psychological Services.