Pennine Acute Trust highly commended in coveted HSJ Awards

Kat Moklak, R&D co-ordinator; Margaret Tyrrell, R&D administrator; Charlotte Lever, R&D monitor; Katie Doyle, R&D facilitator and Dr Steve Woby, head of R&D at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has been highly commended for its clinical research and development work in the latest HSJ Awards.

The Trust was shortlisted from over 120 healthcare organisations across the country and made it into the final eight for the work it has done to develop clinical research activity with patients.

Clinical research is important, as it helps doctors to gather evidence about new treatments and make improvements to patient care.

The Health Service Journal (HSJ) recognised the hard work and progress made by the Trust to increase the number of opportunities for patients to take part in high-quality research studies.

The Trust was particularly commended for the Board’s commitment to improve research opportunities by overhauling its R&D department, setting a clear strategy and working with medical staff to increase the number of opportunities for patients to participate.

These changes have paid dividends at the Trust’s hospitals, with a 65% increase in patients getting involved in National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network (NIHR CRN) studies, and 55% of patients diagnosed with cancer now being recruited to high quality cancer studies.

Dr Jonathan Sheffield, Chief Executive of the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network said: “It shows what can be done with a committed and driven Board. The Trust has made excellent progress, which will undoubtedly embed further into their clinical services over time.”

Dr Christina Kenny, Deputy Medical Director and lead for research at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “To be highly commended for research and development at such a prestigious event is fantastic and highlights the enormous progress that the Trust has made over recent years. The dedication of our research teams combined with the excellent support we receive from Greater Manchester’s Local Research Network, means that we are now providing more opportunities for our patients to participate in high quality research and this is excellent news for the patients we serve across Greater Manchester.”

The Pennine Acute Trust is now the third largest recruiter of patients into NIHR CRN commercial trials within Greater Manchester.