In line with the Department of Health and Social Care’s guidance on the impact of Covid-19 on research funded or supported by the National Institute for Health Research we are now implementing the following measures with immediate effect across the Northern Care Alliance to ensure we have the necessary capacity to deliver COVID-19 studies. In addition, implementing these measures will also “free-up” some capacity among our workforce which can be used to support other clinical areas. Implementing these measures will become critical over the coming days and weeks.
- Recruitment of new patients to all studies to be suspended (unless it is a COVID-19 study)
- Prioritise COVID-19 studies
- Continue with essential follow-up activity such as for safety monitoring or when suspending the follow-up activity will be detrimental to the patient
- Staff who can be deployed clinically will suspend carrying out non-essential follow-up activity
The NIHR Clinical Research Network has released training to support COVID-19 observational study delivery. Users will still need to register using their work email address but there is now a shortened procedure. If you or your team are unable to use e-learning at this time, please contact Katie Doyle to access the slide deck of the course.
We will shortly circulate a more comprehensive guide for our research colleagues outlining specific actions that will need to be taken. We recognise that the situation is changing on a daily basis and any measures we implement will need to be reviewed on an on-going basis. In the meantime, if there are specific concerns and/or questions then please contact Director of R&I Operations Professor Steve Woby or Assistant Director of Nursing Vikki O’Loughlin.
In these unprecedented and fast-changing times, please also follow closely the advice and guidance for staff on the intranet. Our priority, as always, is the health and safety of all patients and staff. Advice is being updated regularly so please check the intranet daily.