I went to Wimbledon for the tennis recently, and I was struck by a system they have in operation for allowing people to queue for returned tickets, in order to get as many people in to watch the matches as possible.

It got me thinking that having an effective wait list system in place for trials would seem like a good idea. Now, of course, the biggest problem is recruiting enough patients in the first place. But in situations where there are a large number of potential trial participants, I’d say it could make sense to continue with the recruitment process – at a reduced level – even after the required number of patients have been recruited.

This can help you with replacements for the inevitable drop-outs from the trial, plus potentially provide a database of willing participants for future trials in the same area.