Table 1.

Timelines of stages of Best Services Trial

Stage	Feasibility RCT CSO funded	Bridging period NSPCC funded	NIHR funding/legal challenge to London randomisation	Definitive RCT with London site	End of recruitment	New end date with 2.5-year follow-up
Time	Dec 2011–May 2015	June 2015–Dec 2015	Jan 2015–28.08.2017	29.08.2017	31.7.21	29.02.2024
Randomisation condition	Consent > baseline > randomisation	Randomisation > consent > baseline		Consent > randomisation > baseline
Key challenges	Very high recruitment rate and delays to accessing services	Waiting lists due to teams treating non-RCT families		Potential for bias to be introduced through post-randomisation baseline assessment—necessary to comply with judicial requirements