News

Local research news:

#Rainbow4Research 2025: Competition dates announced

Save the date!  We’re excited to confirm that after a successful 2024 competition we’ll be running an art AND poetry competition from 19.5.25 until midnight on 1.9.25. 

Once again we’re inviting people across Herefordshire and Worcestershire to think creatively about research by designing a piece of art or writing a poem (max 10 lines) which represents 'hope for research.' Be in with the chance to have your art/poem displayed publicly and to win some shopping vouchers. 

What do I need to do?

Complete your piece of art (any form welcome — digital, textile, sculpture, painting, drawing etc), take a high quality digital photo and email it through to us at:  WHCNHS.ResearchDevelopment@nhs.net 

OR

Complete your art on a A4 sized piece of paper and post it to us: Research & Development, Herefordshire & Worcestershire Health & Care NHS Trust, 2 King's Court (2nd Floor), King's Court Business Park, Charles Hastings Way, Worcester, WR5 1JR.  

OR

Complete your art on a A4 piece of paper and drop it off at one of the drop-off points: 

The Green Centre: Gresham Road, Worcester, WR2 5QS. Mon: 9.30-11.30am; Tues: 9-2pm; Wed: 9.30-1.30pm; Thurs: 9.30-2.30pm

Ronkswood Hub: Canterbury Road, Worcester, WR5 1PJ. During term time: Mon-Fri 9-2.30pm

Warndon Hub: Shap Drive, Worcester, WR4 9NX. Mon-Fri: 9-5pm.

Ewyas Harold Craft Centre: Pontrilas Road, Hereford, HR2 0EL. Wed-Sun: 10-4pm

Hereford Library: Town Hall, St Owen's Street, Hereford, HR1 2PJ. Tue-Thurs: 9.30-5pm; Sat: 9.30-4pm.

OR

Complete your poem (maximum 10 lines of text) and email, post or drop it off using the addresses above.

 

Need some inspiration? Scroll a little further down to view our 2024 Rainbow for Research winners!

Rainbow for Research is a campaign run on behalf of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust. By submitting your artwork you give consent for the artwork to be shared and displayed. Original copies of artwork/poems will not be returned to owner.

 

#Red4Research Day

#Red4Research Day on Friday 20th June 2025 aims to get as many people as possible wearing red to demonstrate their support and appreciation for research and all those participating, undertaking and supporting it. It is an opportunity to showcase the work, learning legacy and the new innovative research system/techniques that have arisen from research.

#Red4Research is completely inclusive — anyone, any age, anywhere can participate — children, adults even pets! The concept is simple — wear any item of clothing as long as it is red, take a photo and post it on social media with the #Red4Research hashtag. Don't forget to share them with us too at  WHCNHS.ResearchDevelopment@nhs.net. 

We need your help!

If you are involved in research in any way please email us (using the above address) a photo of you wearing something red along with a sentence saying why you're involved/research is important to you for us to include in our Trust collage! You've got until Monday 2.6.25 to do this.  Photos will be shared here, our website and on social media. By emailing over a photo you consent to your image being included on these platforms.

 

2025 Research & Development Conference: dates announced

We're excited to share the dates of our 2025 virtual Research and Development Conference:  Tuesday 14 October and Wednesday 15 October.

We are still in the planning stages but updates, the final agenda and where/how to book your tickets will be shared here. Please note tickets will not be available to book until July 2025.

In the meantime please make a note of the dates and for further information when it's posted please  visit our conference pages. You can also access recordings from previous year's conferences.

 

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Research Consortium Steering Group: Research and Innovation Strategy launch,  2024-2029

UPDATE: March 2025: We are part of the above consortium and have been working with partners from across the ICB supporting the development of this strategy:  Research Innovation Strategy V1.6 04.02.25.pdf [pdf] 993KB

We, along with the ICS, are excited to see the development of research across Herefordshire and Worcestershire over the next 5 years. Please see their statement below:

“We are delighted to share with you the finalised version of the Integrated Care System Research and Innovation Strategy – a five-year programme that spans 2024-2029. The attached slide deck goes into plenty of detail, but at its heart it is a strategy that is broad in its scope but detailed in delivery. There is a focus on a systemwide collaborative approach that will aid improvements in patient care and ensure that needs of our communities are being met. It’s success as a strategy will be measured against the quality, impact and sustainability of provision. 

The aim is to improve infrastructures within the system to ensure that we can benefit from the information we glean from research projects and find new and creative ways to bring that learning to life for the communities we serve. In real terms, that means finding and allocating investment to set the foundations, proactively supporting new areas of growth for research and innovation, growing a local talent pool for the purposes of research and innovation, and ensuring that an inclusive ethos underpins everything we do.”

 

Rainbow for Research art competition 2024 — winners announced!

Between 14.10.24-2.12.24 we asked people across Herefordshire and Worcestershire to dust down their paintbrushes and get creative by showing us what health research means to them — in art form.

We were overwhelmed by the number, variety and quality of the entries so a HUGE thank you to everyone who took. Shortlisting and judging was made very tricky!

However — we are pleased to announce (17.12.24) that the winners are:

• Aged 0-8 years category:
  • Florence, age 8

• Aged 9-16 years category:
  • Lalita, age 11

• Charley, age 11

• Aged 16+ category:
• Amelie, student at the University of Worcester

• Clair, Senior Community Nurse in this Trust

The winners will have their entry made into a poster which will be displayed in towns across Herefordshire and Worcestershire as well as at Trust sites from 20.1.25 (Blue Monday). They will also receive a One4All shopping voucher. HUGE CONGRATULATIONS!

If you would like to display some of the winning posters in your department/place of work please get in touch. We'd like lots displayed across our Trust!

 

Research Collaborators 

We launched the Research Collaborator role (similar to a 'champion' like role) in November 2022 whose aim was to enable ANYONE who works at HWHCT to get involved in research. To date nearly 40 colleagues have volunteered and support the delivery of research across the Trust. HUGE thanks for your work to date.

If you want to help us promote research within your teams as well as to patients, maybe learn something new, meet a group of like-minded people, and can give 1 hour a month (max), then we’d love to hear from you. We welcome new people at any time! Email:  alice.madden1@nhs.net  for further information.

 

Staff and student Shadowing opportunities with the R&D Team 

We have developed a shadowing day to enable more people to gain access to a basic understanding of how NHS health research works and show the paths that can be taken to get more involved.

If you or anyone you know in your team is interested please don’t hesitate to get in touch by emailing us:  WHCNHS.ResearchDevelopment@nhs.net

 

PI (Principal Investigator) essentials virtual training

Are you a new PI or someone who's interested in finding out more? Then look this is the course for you. 

Aims and objectives of the course are:

- Discuss the PI leadership role in effective study identification, set up, recruitment and conduct.

- Explore 3 elements of success in PI role: engagement, oversight and communication

- Identify the skills and behaviours required to be an effective PI

We ran courses in March 2025 which were well attended. This course will run again in Sep/Oct 2025. Please  contact us  for further information or to register your interest.

 

Local publications:

Our Research Newsletters

April 2025:  R&D April 2025 newsletter FINAL.pdf [pdf] 1MB

February 2025:  R&D February 2025 newsletter FINAL.pdf [pdf] 2MB

December 2024:  R&D December 2024 newsletter FINAL.pdf [pdf] 2MB

October 2024:  R&D Autumn 2024 newsletter FINAL.pdf [pdf] 1MB

June 2024:   R&D June 2024 newsletter.pdf [pdf] 1MB 

April 2024:   R&D April 2024 newsletter.pdf [pdf] 1MB 

February 2024:  R&D February 2024 newsletter.pdf [pdf] 1MB

Christmas 2023:  Christmas 2023 Research newsletter.pdf [pdf] 1MB

September 2023:  September 2023 Research newsletter.pdf [pdf] 1MB

 

RDN WM (Research Delivery Network West Midlands) Bulletin

March 2025 editionFebruary 2025 edition January 2025 edition December 2024 edition November 2024 edition

 

RDN WM (Research Delivery Network West Midlands) Wellbeing Bulletin

December 2024 edition November 2024 edition

 

ENRICH Bulletin (Enabling Research in Care Homes), RDN WM

April 2025;  March 2025; February 2025;January 2025

 

Health Innovation West Midlands (formally WMAHSN)

March 2025 editionFebruary 2025 editionDecember 2024 edition November 2024 edition

Headline national news:

Be Part of Research - now on the NHS App 

The online service - Be Part of Research - which makes it easy for people to find and take part in health and care research, is now available through the NHS App in England. 

The service, run by the NIHR, helps members of the public understand what research is and what it might mean to take part, as well as showing the research currently happening across the UK. 

Through the Be Part of Research website, people can search for what trials and studies are taking place for particular health conditions they are interested in, at locations that are easy for them to get to.  Read more here.

National news:

New trial to test device treating threatened miscarriage - 3.4.25

Mobile vans helping people in coastal areas to be part of research - 6.3.25

£60m made available to NHS organisations to buy crucial research equipment - 5.3.25

New £42m funding for net zero research hubs across the UK - 3.3.25

Driving safe evaluation of AI systems in healthcare - 3.3.25

How BRCs support career development for researchers - 3.3.25 

Revolutionising clinical practice for hip and knee replacements - 3.3.25

Improving the quality of life for children with long COVID - 12.2.25

Tackling HIV by expanding innovative testing programmes - 31.1.25

Protecting the nation’s health during heatwaves - 31.1.25

Bedside tool can predict bacterial infections and recommend treatment - 28.1.25

Bradford breathes easier as pollution levels fall - 14.1.25

Deaf teen helps build VR therapy for hearing impaired youth  - 14.1.25

 

How can nurses get involved in local research initiatives? (Feb/March 2024)

Case study 1: Hear from 2 nurses — Donna Clements and Jo Moore from Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust - as they share their experience in delivering a NIHR Portfolio study in a busy community leg ulcer clinic. It has been published on the Queens Nursing Institute website and is available to view via this link: How Can Nurses Get Involved in Local Research Initiatives? – The Queen's Nursing Institute (qni.org.uk) 

Case study 2: Becoming a research-active Community Learning Disabilities Nurse: Hear from Anca Manea — Community Learning Disabilities Nurse at Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust — stitute who was awarded a NICHE Fellowship to develop her work in improving antenatal pathways for women and birthing people with learning disabilities. Read more here.

 

RDN (Research Delivery Network) Connect newsletters

20.1.25 edition; 16.12.24 edition; 25.11.24 edition; 11.11.24 edition; 28.10.24 edition

 

NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research) news and updates

January 2025 update;December 2024 update; November 2024 update; October 2024 update

 

NHS Research and Development Forum newsletters

January 2025 newsletter;December 2024 newsletter;November 2024 newsletter; October 2024 newsletter; 

 

Be Part of Research Newsletter

Awaiting new edition

 

Clinical Research Practitioner (CRP) Directory Bulletin ( Homepage - Clinical Research Practitioners Directory - NIHR (ahcs.ac.uk))

January 2025 Bulletin;September 2024 Bulletin; June 2024 Bulletin; April 2024 Bulletin;  

 

Applied Research Collaborations (ARC’s) newsletter

March 2025; December 2024; November 2024; October 2024

 

UK Community Nursing Research Forum (hosted by the Queen's Nursing Institute)

January 2025 newsletter; November 2024 newsletter; October 2024 newsletter

 

HRA Latest (Health Research Authority)

March 2024; December 2024; November 2024; October 2024

Archive of local publications:

HWHCT Research and Development Newsletters

June 2022: June 2022 .pdf [pdf] 725KB

April 2022: April 2022 update.pdf [pdf] 738KB

February 2022: February 2022 update.pdf [pdf] 324KB

Christmas 2021: Research newsletter Christmas 2021.pdf [pdf] 4MB

Autumn 2021: Research quarterly newsletter Autumn 2021.pdf [pdf]

Summer 2021: Research quarterly newsletter summer 2021.pdf [pdf] 741KB

 

Clinical Research Network West Midlands (CRN WM) Bulletin (2023 editions)

2.6.23: CRN WM Bulletin #78 (campaign-archive.com) 19.5.23: CRN WM Bulletin #77 (campaign-archive.com) 5.5.23: CRN WM Bulletin #76 (campaign-archive.com) 14.4.23: CRN WM Bulletin #75 (campaign-archive.com) 31.3.23: CRN WM Bulletin #74 (campaign-archive.com)17.3.23: CRN WM Bulletin #73 (campaign-archive.com) 3.3.23: CRN WM Bulletin #72 (campaign-archive.com) 17.2.23: CRN WM Bulletin #71 (campaign-archive.com) 3.2.23: CRN WM Bulletin #70 (campaign-archive.com) 6.1.23: CRN WM Bulletin #69 (campaign-archive.com)

 

CRN WM (Clinical Research Network West Midlands) Wellbeing Bulletin

Grit and Determination - May 2023 Mental Health Awareness Week - Anxiety Wellbeing Bulletin - May 2023 Doing our bit - April 2023 Wellbeing Bulletin - April 2023 Wellbeing Bulletin - March 2023 Staying motivated in the winter months - February 2023 Wellbeing Bulletin - January 2023 

 

Archive of national publications

CRN (Clinical Research Network) Connect newsletters (2023 eds)

Monday 7 August 2023 Monday 31 July 2023 Monday 24 July 2023 Monday 17 July 2023 Monday 10 July 2023 Monday 3 July 2023 Monday 26 June 2023 Monday 19 June 2023 Monday 12 June 2023 Monday 5 June 2023 Monday 22 May 2023 Monday 15 May 2023 Tuesday 9 May 2023 Tuesday 2 May 2023 Monday 24 April 2023 Monday 17 April 2023 Monday 3 April 2023 Monday 27 March 2023 Monday 20 March 2023

 

NHS Research and Development Forum newsletter

May 2023 April 2023 17 April 2023 - Red for Research - Save the date! 16.6.23 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022

 

Be Part of Research Newsletter

Winter (Feb) 2023 Autumn (October) 2022 Summer (August) 2022

 

Health Research Authority (HRA) Updates

April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023

 

Clinical Research Practitioner (CRP) Directory Bulletin ( Homepage - Clinical Research Practitioners Directory - NIHR (ahcs.ac.uk))

March 2023 Jan/Feb 2023 October 2022 August 2022

 

UK Community Nursing Research Forum (hosted by the Queen's Nursing Institute)

May newsletter April newsletter March Newsletter February Newsletter January Newsletter - QNI Community Nursing Research Forum (mailchi.mp)

Hearing Nasty Voices

We were pleased to be one of the first NHS Trust’s to open this study in February 2020 and, although paused during COVID, was open through until December 2021. 3 people were recruited contributing to the 308 participants recruited in total.

HUGE thanks to teams in this Trust involved in this study who have helped broaden understanding of the potential causes of distress in voice hearers focussing on one type of experience – hearing derogatory or threatening voices. Click below to read the full report: https://academic.oup.com/schizophreniabulletin/article/49/1/151/6659785

Psychological Impact of COVID-19 - intial results from phase 1 of the study (December 2021)

The Psychological Impact of COVID-19 (phase 1) looked at the psychological impact of the first lockdown, the relaxation of lockdown rules and the compulsory face coverings period. These inital results show the varying impacts of each of the above listed periods on different population sub groups - including gender, age, ethnicity and professional groups. Please click here to read the full article.

HUGE thanks to everyone who took part.

COPE-WM: Initial findings from this study were released 19.11.21

COPE-WM was a far reaching questionnaire study available to anyone who worked in healthcare. It closed at the end of September 2021.

The study released their initial findings on 19.11.21 which included:

• Unsurprisingly those healthcare employees who had a positive COVID-19 test result were more likely to provide direct care to patients with COVID-19
• There was poor infection control at the beginning of the pandemic but effective infection control measures were implemented after this initial period
• Experience of working during the pandemic:
  • Demand as outstripping capacity
  • Peer support at work was as important as ever
  • Morally challenging decisions in the workplace
  • Mixed re-deployment experiences
• Impact on mental health:
  • Mental health deterioration experienced during the pandemic
  • Uncertainty during the pandemic
  • Mental health coping mechanisms disabled
  • Working from home as problematic for mental health
  • Positive antibody rates:
  • Prior to vaccination 46% of participants had had a COVID infection (included study participants who had answered ‘yes’ as being symptomatic who then qualified to receive an antibody test kit)
  • From December 2020 rates of antibody positivity rise dramatically following the 1^st and 2^nd dose of vaccination to 98+%
• A study coming in the new year – COCO – will further look into the issues raised here

They have only released preliminary findings including the above so we will share the full report once it’s released.

We’ve also received a request from the study regarding the follow up survey:

‘Thank you to everyone that took the time to complete the COPE-WM study baseline survey. If you completed the baseline survey and this was more than 4 months ago you should have received an email asking you to complete the follow up survey for the study. The email was sent to the email address you provided when asked for your personal email address when you completed the baseline survey. Thank you to everyone who has already completed their follow up survey.

Please be aware that for some participants the COPE-WM study emails have been filtered to their spam/junk folder – please check there if you think you should have received an email

If, however, you received a request email but have not yet completed the survey we would encourage you to do so to ensure your follow up data contributes to the study outcomes. Survey completion should take no more than 20 minutes of your time.

If you took part in the study more than 4 months ago and either have not received an email request to complete the follow up survey or remember receiving one but are no longer able to access it and would like to complete the survey please contact the study research team by email:

cope-wm@contacts.bham.ac.uk .

If you took part less than 4 months ago please keep an eye out for the email about the follow up that you should receive in the next few weeks. 

The higher the number of participants who complete their follow up survey the better the study will be able to understand the impact of COVID-19 on people working in healthcare settings.’

THANK YOU once again to everyone who took part in this study.

iMCSP (individualised Meeting Centres Support Programme) – initial findings

We were involved in this research study a few years ago so please click below for the results: CIA_A_212852 1527..1553 (dovepress.com). Thank you to those who were involved.

SYMBAD trial results - October 2021

HWHCT took part in this trial so we were really pleased to receive these results at the end of October 2021. The main results have been published in the Lancet: https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0140673621012101 but please see below for the summary outcomes:

‘In summary we found that there was no benefit in taking mirtazapine compared with placebo, there was even the possibility of harm with a marginally higher rate of mortality in the mirtazapine group. The clear conclusion from the data is that they do not support the use of mirtazapine as a treatment for agitation in dementia. Positively there was clear recovery in those that participated in both the placebo and the mirtazapine group. This means that the best thing to do clinically may be to actively monitor agitation while carrying out treatment as usual, rather than jumping to use another medication in all but the most serious of cases.

This is a result that has important implications to clinical practice, and we hope that you will join with us in disseminating the findings as widely as possible. There has been a press release: Research news - Common antidepressant should no longer be used to treat people with dementia - University of Exeter by the University of Plymouth and the team would be happy to work with your local institutions and Trusts should you wish to provide further public information. Alzheimer’s Research UK has also published an article: Antidepressant drug doesn’t improve agitation in dementia trial - Alzheimer's Research UK (alzheimersresearchuk.org) ’

HUGE thanks to everyone who was involved in this study at HWHCT.

PrEP Impact Trial – A pragmatic health technology assessment and implementation.

PrEP (HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis) is a medicine for HIV negative people and it can reduce the risk of catching HIV when taken as instructed. However this is currently not available through the NHS.

PrEP is made up of two drugs, Tenofovir and Emtricitabine. Both these drugs have been widely used for many years to treat HIV and the drug has been used by several thousands of HIV negative people worldwide to reduce the risk of HIV.

To plan a PrEP programme in England, NHS England and Local Authorities carried out research to find out:

• How many people attending sexual health clinics need PrEP?
• How many of these start PrEP?
• How long do they need PrEP for?

In this Trust the study ran across the 3 Sexual Health Services; Arrowside, John Anthony Centre and Hereford and 64 patients were recruited. All participants in this study had access to PrEP.

This study has now closed but we will share the outcomes when they are published later this year. A huge thank you to everyone who was involved.