'Everything changed overnight' - Hartlepool hospital trust team give insight into Covid treatment and vaccine research

Researchers working on Covid-19 treatments and a potential vaccine have given an insight into their experiences on the frontline.
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The research and development team at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has been at the centre of some key national trials for treatments and vaccine studies over the last few months.

They have recently become the first in the country to treat a patient with REGN-COV2 – a new treatment made from a combination of antibodies, and investigating if existing treatments used to treat other conditions could reduce the need for ventilators and improve recovery rates.

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Members of the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust research and development team.Members of the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust research and development team.
Members of the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust research and development team.

Talking about their experiences on the Recovery trials clinical research nurses Barbara Campbell and Jill Deane said: “Overnight the field of clinical research changed.

“The days of hearing about potential research studies, watching the slow and steady progress of expressions of interest and waiting expectantly for studies to start were gone.

“We had started putting things in place to ensure that the NHS didn’t miss the opportunity to ensure that, as well as dealing with this health pandemic, we started research studies that could lead to identifying improved treatments for patients and ways of dealing with this potentially deadly virus.”

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That included collecting lots of data from Covid patients, going onto the wards and liaising with willing patients and their families.

Jane Greenway.Jane Greenway.
Jane Greenway.

"Most patients and their families were keen to have extra treatments, often expressing their desire to ’try anything that might help’,” added Barbara and Jill.

"It has been difficult to see patients and staff suffer during the last few months but is has been a privilege to be alongside them for this journey.”

Jane Greenaway, associate director of the Durham Tees Valley Research Alliance, which the North Tees and Hartlepool Trust is a member of, also shared her experiences.

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She said: “Suddenly the work that myself and my teams have been doing for decades was catapulted into the spotlight in the fight against COVID-19.

"COVID-19 did more to advance knowledge and awareness of the benefits of research in a few weeks than we’d managed to do in more than 10 years of sustained internal promotion!”

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