Lancaster medical team behind vital research for Covid-19 treatment

Lancaster Medical Practice’s research team has been working tirelessly alongside national organisations on clinical trials for Covid-19 treatment since April.

Being a ‘research active’ general practice means that Lancaster Medical Practice takes part in a wide range of studies - helping to enhance knowledge on how to treat conditions, prevent illnesses and form the best care across the community and within the NHS.

The research carried out could involve surveys, interviews, treatment and drug trials or blood tests - with the practice’s research team also there to make sure all patients are safe and fully informed throughout the study they are participating in.

One trial Lancaster Medical Practice is currently involved with is the PRINCIPLE study, with Lancaster’s largest general practice being the second highest recruiter in the country – more than 860 practices are taking part.

The main aim of the PRINCIPLE study is to develop low risk treatments that prevent people from becoming seriously ill with coronavirus.

At the moment there is no specific treatment within the community that is known to work against Covid-19 – the trial aims to change that.

The study recruits anyone who has experienced Covid-19 symptoms within the last fourteen days who are aged 65+ or over 50 with an underlying health condition.

Those recruited are then provided with either the usual care given to Covid-19 patients or the usual care with an additional study drug.

This allows the researchers to determine how effective these study drugs are at treating coronavirus.

These study drugs have been through stringent clinical drug trials and are currently widely used across the NHS for other conditions, but the PRINCIPLE study is looking to see how effective they are at treating Covid-19 specifically.

The trial is being run by the University of Oxford and is funded by UK Research and Innovation and the Department for Health and Social Care through the National Institute for Health Research.

They have so far recruited more than 1,600 people to the study nationwide with the aim to find potentially life-saving treatment for Covid-19 patients.

The success of the study has partly been down to its ability to be carried out from home – as those participating must all self-isolate.

Lancaster Medical Practice’s research team has also been involved in the Virus Watch study as part of Morecambe Bay Collaborative – a group of researchers from the Morecambe Bay area.

Virus Watch is being run by University College London and its aim is to better understand the Covid-19 virus, how it spreads and how to stop it.

Blood clinics for Morecambe Bay Collaborative are being run at Owen Road Surgery, Queen Square Medical Practice and Bay Medical Practice.

These provide antibody tests which show if someone has had coronavirus and developed antibodies. Over 120 of our local residents are taking part in this trial.

Another study that is due to start soon is the RAPTOR C-19 trial, with Lancaster Medical Practice being one of the first GP practices in the country chosen to take part.

This study will test SARS-CoV-2 (the strain of coronavirus that causes Covid-19) Rapid Antigen tests, which are a much quicker alternative to the swab test which has been the main indicator of whether someone has Covid-19.

If you wish to sign up to any of these trials or receive further information, you can email Lancaster Medical Practice Research department at [email protected]