Keeping in touch with trial participants isn’t just about seeing them at their regular site visits. It’s important, of course, to treat each person with respect and make them feel welcome when they do attend the site. And incorporating such elements as remembering their birthdays, or where they went on holiday, can help cement a relationship with them.

On top of this, offering such things as ‘patient appreciation items’ can help with patients viewing you and the trial in a favorable light – like the free pens, mousemats, mugs etc. that corporations often supply to their customers.

And one of the simplest methods of ensuring patients remain committed to attending their site visits is to remind them when they are coming up. This could be via a trial-specific app, text message, email, phone call, or even via a posted letter – as often happens in the UK as a reminder of an upcoming hospital appointment.