Silver international award for Royal Oldham research team

Silver international award for The Royal Oldham research team

Expert research staff from The Royal Oldham, part of the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group (NCA), have won global recognition in the Pharma Times International Clinical Researcher of the Year awards.

The facilities at The Royal Oldham, Fairfield General and Salford Royal were all chosen for the five-strong shortlist, with the team from The Royal Oldham being awarded the silver place.

The NCA’s record-breaking year for clinical studies in partnership with pharmaceutical and medical technology firms was reflected in the way its three Clinical Research Facilities dominated the shortlist for the awards’ Clinical Site of the Year category.

Dr Hilary Jones from Good Morning Britain presented the award to Senior Research Nurses, Karen Hallett and Lyndsay Scarratt, along with the Research & Innovation team’s Sponsorship, Compliance and Laboratory Lead, Dr Rob Oliver.

The NCA brings together Salford Royal and Pennine Acute Trusts and operates five hospitals and community services in Salford, Oldham, Bury, Rochdale and North Manchester.

Now in their 20th year, the International Clinical Researcher of the Year awards celebrate clinical research worldwide. This year, more than 600 competitors took part from across all areas of the globe, with over 40 countries represented.

The Northern Care Alliance’s Director of Research & Innovation Operations, Professor Steve Woby, said: “We are proud and delighted that our Joint Research Office and teams at our Clinical Research Facilities have been recognised in these international awards, and especially thrilled that our team representing The Royal Oldham Hospital was given the silver award.

“We have a national and international reputation for the high quality of our research across the Alliance and that is testament to the expert staff leading studies here and also to those who support and facilitate research.

“This year has seen a record-breaking number of patients –more than 42,000 - taking part in research across our care organisations, helping the NHS to improve diagnosis, care and treatment in a huge range of health conditions.

“Of those 42,000 patients, more than 1,400 took part in studies where we are working in partnership with the pharmaceutical industry and medical technology companies, giving patients the opportunity to try cutting edge new treatments and medicines.”

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust previously won the NHS Clinical Research Site in the Pharma Times awards in 2016. The other two winners this year were University College London Hospitals (gold award) and University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire (bronze award).