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Trust tops table for patients participating in research

18/07/2018
This article is more than five years old.

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has risen to the top of a table for the most patients recruited to take part in research studies.

The Trust recruited 20,937 participants to studies supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in 2017/18, putting it first out of all NHS hospital trusts in England.

The Trust also recruited to 517 NIHR-supported studies - up from 505 in 2016/17 - putting it third on the table for the number of studies.

The Trust manages the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford and Banbury's Horton General Hospital.

The NHS supports research by asking patients and healthy volunteers if they wish to take part in trials to enable participants to access new treatment and care options, with the overall aim of improving the treatment and care provided by the NHS.

Professor Keith Channon, Director of Research and Development for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The almost 21,000 patients taking part in studies at our hospitals is a fantastic achievement. By partnering with the University of Oxford, we have world-leading researchers and clinical care and research happen hand-in-hand on a day-to-day basis.

"We also have the operational infrastructure provided by the NIHR that allows us to have members of research staff to make sure patients have the opportunity to participate in clinical research studies."

Oxford's Gretchen Meddaugh (pictured), 45, took part in an NHS research study into tuberculosis (TB) in August 2017 at the Churchill Hospital's Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine (CCVTM).

The TB041 study is looking into whether giving a tuberculosis (TB) vaccination through an inhaler is more effective than through injection, which is standard practice.

If the inhaler proves more effective, this could lead to other TB vaccinations being given through an inhaler. The study is open to healthy adults who have not been vaccinated against TB.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection spread through inhaling droplets from the coughs or sneezes of an infected person. It is a serious condition, but it can be cured if it's treated with the right antibiotics.

The vaccine BCG works well against TB in childhood, but not in adulthood, which leads to the majority of TB deaths. The BCG vaccine is made from a weakened strain of TB bacteria which triggers the immune system to protect against the disease.

The bacteria that causes TB infects people through being breathed into the lungs, therefore inhaling the vaccine may combat the TB infection more effectively than through an injection.

Participants on the study are randomly allocated to receive the vaccine through either an inhaler or injection and given a lung examination after 14 days, to compare the two.

Ms Meddaugh, who worked for the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford for three years, said: "I found out about the study because I used to work in vaccine research, so I was well aware of the trials taking place through the university.

"This particular trial really interested me because I had never had the BCG vaccine, whereas a lot of adults in the UK have, so I thought I could be useful to them."

Ms Meddaugh said: "I refused to have the flu shot in 2009 because I didn't trust the vaccines and was worried about what would happen, but I was so naïve about the care and research that happens before it is released to the public. Working and taking part in vaccine research has changed my mind about how useful and powerful they are.

"Speaking as someone who used to believe vaccines were given out too easily and without enough testing, and having seen just how much oversight goes into developing vaccines, I have changed my mind about just how much good they can do."

Ms Meddaugh, now a research administrator for the University of Oxford, said: "Taking part was really exciting and unusual. I was told to wear a huge hood, like a helmet for going into outer space, and a tube went into my hood for me to breathe through for five minutes.

"Tuberculosis kills so many people worldwide, so I thought this is a very important trial, and I'd be happy to help find a better vaccine."

The study is led by the University of Oxford and funded by the Wellcome Trust and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.