We have encountered barriers to health research caused by health system reforms. The PROMISE research programme on child and adolescent obesity was awarded £2.1 million in 2009 by the Department of Health's National Institute for Health Research. In one of the PROMISE projects, the Healthy Eating and Lifestyle Programme (HELP), a randomised controlled trial of a lifestyle intervention incorporating motivational and solution-focused techniques for 12–19 year-olds with obesity,1 we have faced significant difficulties with recruitment. While recruitment to …