Hospital Research Gets £3.5 Million Boost

 

NHS patients in North Staffordshire will benefit from a multi-million pound research project that could lead to a new range of effective treatments.  

Staff at the Guy Hilton Research Centre, part of University Hospital, are celebrating after being awarded over 3.5 million pounds.   People from across North Staffordshire will directly benefit as the money will be used to recruit patients to the very latest research projects over the next three years.   Patients who take part in research tend to benefit by being studied in depth and therefore have their condition monitored more closely, they also get a lot more information about their condition.  

Professor Warren Lenney, associate director of research and development, said:  

"This money will have a huge impact on how we care for the local community in the future, there is also the possibility it will create jobs at the hospital. It's very important that as a university hospital we at the forefront of research in the region and this investment will certainly help. What we mustn't forget is that this research will ultimately help our current and future patients. Patients who take part in research benefit by getting the most information about their condition and the simple fact that as part of the research they are monitored very closely. Nationally there is 1.6 billion pounds spent on health research and we need to make sure as much of that as possible comes to North Staffordshire."  

Julia Bridgewater, University Hospital's Chief Executive, said:  

"This investment will not only mean we can offer more patients the chance of taking part in research, our staff will now have the opportunity to become skilled and trained in research. This is great news for the Trust and offers us the real opportunity to continue to carry out high quality research. I'm proud of our staff for the hard work they have put in to secure the 1.2 million pounds from the West Midlands North Comprehensive Clinical Research Network for each of the next three years. Staff at the Guy Hilton Research Centre are a true credit to University Hospital."  

All departments and services within University Hospital can now put together research applications to gain access to the money.