Agile Research Team help Somerset-based primary care organisation to become 'top recruiter' to COVID trial
Symphony Healthcare Services has been named as a ‘top hub recruiter’ to the NIHR-supported PANORAMIC trial which aimed to assess oral COVID-19 antiviral treatments for vulnerable groups.
Symphony Healthcare Services (SHS), a largescale primary care organisation based in Somerset, has been involved in the COVID-19 study since January 2022, having recruited 287 participants between then and October 2023 with the help of the NIHR Clinical Research Network South West Peninsula (CRN SWP) Agile Research Team.
PANORAMIC is a nationwide platform study, set up to rapidly investigate a range of new COVID-19 antiviral treatments that can be taken at home, in the early stages of infection, to help people recover more quickly and reduce the risk of serious illness from the virus.
Dr Chris Krasucki, the Principal Investigator from Symphony Healthcare Services, said: “It is hard to adequately sum up being part of this key study with an incredibly skilled and professional team drawn from across the CRN SWP area, at such a challenging time for so many of us.
“One of my research nurse colleagues summed up what I think we all feel about the experience by saying ‘it was being a part of a trial that could have effectively changed the world. We wanted to make a difference. We also worked in new ways, remotely and across counties, to provide a well-run, successful recruiting team.”
The study, which began in November 2021, recruited nearly 30,000 participants nationally and recently closed to recruitment. The study recruited 699 participants from a number of GP practices across Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.
