SORT Online

The SORT is a new toolkit, developed by researchers at the University of Sheffield and commissioned by NHS England, has been launched to help health and care organisations support nurses to carry out research related activities.

The self-assessment of organisational readiness tool (SORT) and accompanying guide, published by NHS England, provides a framework for organisations to assess - and develop - their research capacity within nursing and wider health and care practice. 

Health and care organisations who complete the tool are asked to review their organisation against a series of forty-four statements, providing evidence to illustrate their answers. This assessment uses a matrix to evaluate organisations’ level of research maturity and the scale of support currently available for nurses undertaking research. Organisations are then asked to create an improvement plan to better implement research within their nursing practice. 

The publication of the SORT self-assessment follows the Chief Nursing Officer for England’s (CNO) ambitious strategic plan for research, which aims to create a people-centred research environment that empowers nurses to lead, participate in and deliver research in order to benefit patient care.

Development of the toolkit was led by Professor Parveen Ali, Professor Julie McGarry and Professor Joanne Cooke from the University of Sheffield’s School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery, alongside colleagues from NHS England, the third sector and other healthcare professionals involved in research.