Portsmouth Hospitals recruits first participants to trial exploring COVID-19 treatments
Staff at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust have recruited their first participants to a trial exploring potential drug treatments for COVID-19.
The research trial, known as RECOVERY, aims to compare several different treatments that may be useful for patients with COVID-19. These treatments have been recommended for testing by the expert panel that advises Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer in England.
Although these treatments show promise, nobody knows if they will turn out to be more effective in helping patients recover than the usual standard of care, which all patients will receive.
The RECOVERY trial, which has received funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) via the Department of Health and Social Care, has been classed as an urgent public health research study, with all NHS trusts in England asked to support.
Dr Tom Brown, Consultant Respiratory Physician at the Trust, was part of the team that helped recruit the first participants to the trial. Dr Brown said, “We are delighted to be contributing to a trial that will identify the best treatment options for our patients with COVID-19 recognising what a difficult and frightening time this is for everyone.”
Rebecca McKay, CRN Wessex Chief Operating Officer, expressed thanks to staff at the Trust on behalf of the Network and the NIHR: “Thank you to the research team at Portsmouth who have recruited their first participant into this urgent public health COVID-19 treatment study.
“This achievement is a testament to the research team’s ability to work at pace, engage frontline clinical staff and promote the value of research.”
The chance to join the RECOVERY trial will be offered to adult inpatients in NHS hospitals who have tested positive for COVID-19 and who have not been excluded for medical reasons. Patients joining the trial will be allocated at random by a computer to receive one of the four drugs being studied or no additional medication.
The RECOVERY trial is supported by a grant to the University of Oxford from UK Research and Innovation and the NIHR, and by core funding provided by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Wellcome, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Department for International Development, Health Data Research UK, the Medical Research Council Population Health Research Unit, and NIHR Clinical Trials Unit Support Funding.
Find out more about the RECOVERY trial by visiting www.recoverytrial.net
