Hard-working staff in the Research and Development Department at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WHH) have been presented with a top regional award.
They have been named Research Delivery Team of the Year at the North West Coast Research and Innovation Awards for their innovative work leading vital clinical research at the Trust.
The awards are held annually to recognise the best innovators and researchers in health and care across Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire and South Cumbria.
Judges praised the ‘excellent, collaborative and hard-working team’ for the impact they have made on the delivery of several major research studies across the borough and further afield.
The Trust’s dedicated Clinical Research Unit (HCRU), based in the Nightingale Building at Halton Hospital, opened its doors just over two years ago and during that time it has gone from strength to strength.
Among its achievements to date, it recruited the highest number of volunteers to a commercial COVID-19 vaccine study sponsored by Moderna. It also secured a ‘global first’ by recruiting the first volunteer for an international Sanofi gastroenterology study looking at adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.
The awards ceremony, which took place on Thursday 22 June at the Royal College of Physicians, The Spine In Liverpool, was hosted by BBC TV North West and Breakfast presenter Roger Johnson.
Organised by the Innovation Agency; Clinical Research Network North West Coast (CRN NWC) and Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast, the event attracted almost 200 entries, with 36 shortlisted in 12 categories.
Kirsty Pine, Associate Director of Research and Development at WHH, said: “We were thrilled to collect this award on behalf of the entire team and so proud that their hard work and dedication has been recognised in this way.
“They make participation in research possible for the people of Warrington and Halton and do so with care, compassion and a smile.
“Our ongoing partnership with Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust and the CRN NWC demonstrates that deliberate collaborative working can achieve real success and ensure our clinical staff stay abreast of the latest possible treatment options to help improve patient outcomes.”
Also attending on the night was special guest Professor Sir Stephen Powis, Medical Director of the NHS.
He said: “Every challenge we face is an opportunity to learn, collaborate and embrace new approaches to deliver improvements in the services we provide, for the benefit of patients, staff and the wider NHS.
“As the NHS looks forward to its 75th birthday on 5 July, it is a good time to reflect on its journey and on the incredible research and innovation milestones that have transformed patient outcomes and that will help to build an NHS that is fit for the future.”
Residents in Warrington, Runcorn and Widnes, as well as the wider Cheshire and Merseyside area, are encouraged to support the work of the Research and Development team at WHH by considering taking part in vital clinical research.
The Pathway to Research programme is a secure database that patients and residents can sign up to if they would like to be contacted about future research studies.
To find out more about research at WHH and to register your interest in being contacted about potential research projects you may be eligible for please visit: https://
