Wrightington Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) has become one of the first three Trusts, nationally, to set up and recruit patients to assist with national vital research in the fight against coronavirus.
The Trust’s Research and Development department, based at Wrightington Hospital, is working throughout WWL to set up important national research studies in the fight against Covid-19, joining a study called ‘Recovery’, overseen by the National Institute of Health Research.
The study is designed for people who are admitted to hospital and, although there has been a range of potential treatments suggested for Covid-19, nobody knows if any of them will turn out to be more effective than the usual treatment given.
Christine Birchall (pictured), Head of Research and Development, said: “Being one of the first three Trusts in the country to set up this study in such a short space of time is a huge achievement.
“This will give our patients an opportunity to receive additional treatment to their normal care with the aim of helping them to recover more quickly. This is a nationwide study and, should medications be seen to be effective, this will help to inform our doctors quickly of effective treatments.”
WWL’s Consultant Respiratory Physician, Dr Abdul Ashish, has been named as the Principle Investigator and the Trust’s Pharmacy team has been instrumental in working to make the medications available at the earliest possible time.
WWL is also involved in a World Health Organization and the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infections Consortium (ISARIC) study by providing data around clinical characteristics for severe emerging infections. This study is recognised as being an urgent Public Health Research study and WWL are pleased to add our contribution to this essential research.
