New team hits the ground running as national study demands innovative approach to research delivery
A world-first COVID-19 study running in the South West and nationally has proved the perfect testing ground for a new model of research delivery.
The PANORAMIC trial, run by the University of Oxford and supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), launched at the start of December 2021 and has recruited more than 8,000 participants so far. It is providing potentially life-saving antiviral drugs, which can be taken as a tablet at home, to people who test positive for COVID-19, aiming to reduce the risk of hospitalisations and death.
The trial is being delivered centrally and in primary care, through a network of ‘hub’ sites and associated ‘spokes’. Because of the scale of the study, which is aiming to recruit more than 10,000 participants, many GP practices that were not previously research active have been involved, and a huge amount of support has been required. Much of this has been provided locally by the NIHR Clinical Research Network South West Peninsula’s (CRN SWP) newly formed Agile Research Delivery Team (ARDT).
Briony Dillon, ARDT Lead Research Practitioner explained: “The expansion of the Agile team only really started from September last year, so to have made such a significant contribution to PANORAMIC, right from when it opened in December, is fantastic.
“We’ve been really lucky because we’ve had some fantastic additions to an already good team. Our primary care team already had a great range of skills and experience, but the people we’ve added have been amazing. Their enthusiasm has been really motivating, and I’m really looking forward to the next steps.”
The hub at Newquay Health Centre in Cornwall was one of the very first in the country to be set up and start recruiting to PANORAMIC. Kirsty Maclean, a Specialist Research Nurse and the CRN SWP’s Training and Workforce Development Manager, worked alongside the practice team, GP and Principal Investigator Dr Nick Jacobsen and ARDT staff to achieve this.
She said: “We got the protocol on a Friday, and by the following Wednesday we’d recruited our first patient. It was hard work but everyone has been incredible and worked together.
“It takes a lot of work from a practice team to set up a research study, and the spokes, that might not have been research active before, are already starting to see the benefits of having someone from the ARDT on board.
“It opens doors for all practices who want to get involved in research. Having that skilled and experienced team around them can be the encouragement they need to help build their own research teams, and get people excited about research.”
Briony continued: “The team at Newquay deserve huge recognition, but so does Kirsty and all our other CRN SWP colleagues who worked so hard to set up PANORAMIC. It’s been a huge undertaking, and it just proves what we can do when we put the right people in the right places, and put all our effort into it.
“We’re continuing to grow the team so we can benefit even more practices. With an even wider range of skills, we can offer more layers of support. So for example, if a practice wants help with administration or screening we could offer an Assistant Research Practitioner, but if that side is going to be covered by the practice team, we could provide a Research Nurse to do consenting or follow-up.”
Kirsty added: “We might have only started in October, but the future is fantastic for this team.”
