COVID-19 recovery research under way at East Lancashire Hospitals

ELHT has been actively involved in research and education for many years; training the next generation of healthcare professionals, contributing to new knowledge and improving patient care through research and innovation. The new Directorate reinforces how important this work is to the Trust.

As the world is busy treating patients who are critically ill with the coronavirus, the Directorate is also involved in delivering world-class COVID-19 research. This is a key element of the Government’s overall response to the pandemic. There are currently four nationally prioritised Covid-19 studies open. Each following different places in the patient pathway:

The PRIEST study: Pandemic Respiratory Infection Emergency System Triage - Over 80 patients have been recruited

CCP UK - ISARIC/WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol for Severe Emerging Infections - Over 290 patients have been recruited

UKOSS: Pandemic Influenza in Pregnancy - one patient has been recruited

The RECOVERY Trial – Randomized evaluation of COVID-19 therapy – seven patients have been recruited

The RECOVERY trial is a randomised trial among adults hospitalised for confirmed COVID-19. It is investigating a series of treatments including Lopinavir-Ritonavir, Hydroxychloroquine, corticosteroids and Azithromycin. Eligible patients are randomly allocated between treatment arms, each given in addition to the usual standard of care. The study is sponsored by The University of Oxford and was mentioned in the government’s briefing on April 3rd 2020 by Professor Jonathan Van Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, as a priority and of clinical importance.

Dr Srikanth Chukkambotla, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Director of Research and Innovation and Principal Investigator for the RECOVERY trial at the Trust, said: “It is very important to understand this new disease COVID-19, study the current treatments and also investigate new treatments in the fight against this unprecedented pandemic which is effecting the entire world population. At ELHT, we are proud to contribute to high priority COVID-19 research projects and also to give our local population a chance be part of this extremely important research.”

Michelle Stephens, research manager for the Trust, said: “We have set up all of these studies in a short space of time to give our patients the opportunity to join the research and have access to the treatments under investigation. They will also contribute to understanding COVID-19 and effective treatments, for the NHS and wider healthcare community.”

The team are expecting to open further new studies shortly and will be working with divisions across the Trust to support these.