Women’s Health Research Newsletter
Autumn 2015
Featured research
If you would like your research featured in the winter newsletter please email
UCLH.researchmidwives@nhs.net
Fetal Medicine
Studies update
Maternity Studies
Update
How do you know if a
woman is involved in
research?
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PI: Anna David
Aim: To collect a detailed
database of information about
what happens to mothers and
babies affected by severe earlyonset FGR. This will help us
understand more about why
severe early onset FGR happens
and may help us to develop tests
we can use in the future to predict
who will be affected and what
complications babies are likely to
have.
Recruitment: 39 women have
been recruited at UCLH.
Help us: If you are caring for a
woman on labour ward with an
EVERREST sticker on their notes,
please alert the research team as
we need to take cord and
placental samples at delivery.
STRIDER
PI: Anna David
Aim: To see whether giving
pregnant women sildenafil
(Viagra) improves blood flow to
the placenta. We believe that
improving the blood flow might
help overcome some of the
problems causing poor growth,
potentially delaying delivery so the
baby has more time in the womb,
which is usually the best place for
the baby to develop. Women with
severe IUGR before 30 weeks are
randomised to take sildenafil or
placebo.
Recruitment: 1 Woman has been
recruited at UCLH.
Women recruited to this study will
be flagged in handheld notes,
Medway and CDR. The research
team will collect delivery data.
PI: Seni Subair
Aim: To determine whether delivery
in women with pre-eclampsia
between 34+0 and 36+6 weeks
reduces complications compared
with the expectant management.
Recruitment: With the help of
MFAU & antenatal ward staff we
have now recruited a total of four
women to the Phoenix study. The
target recruitment has just been
increased to two women a month.
With help from clinical staff to
identify potential participants this
should be achievable. So please
continue to alert one of the research
midwives if you are caring for a
woman with preeclampsia.
For more information: Visit
https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/phoenix
STOPPIT2
PI: George Attilakos
Aim: To determine whether an
Arabin cervical pessary prevents
preterm birth in women with a twin
pregnancy.
Recruitment: Seven women have
now been recruited to the screening
phase of the study. This month the
first woman was randomized to the
pessary group.
Pessary information for clinical
staff:
 Heavy discharge is normal with
the pessary and is not a reason
for removal.
 The research team will arrange
for the pessary to be removed at
35 – 36 weeks gestation.
 If admitted with SROM or
contracting a doctor should
remove the pessary.
 The research team will collect
delivery data.
To ensure clinical staff are
informed when a woman has been
consented to a research study we
will soon be using several alert
systems:
Handheld notes: A study sticker is
used on the outside of the
handheld notes. Consent and
study details will be documented in
the antenatal pages. A copy of the
consent form and study information
will be attached inside the notes.
Medway: A research workflow will
be added to Medway. It will detail
their involvement in the study, if
the woman requires any special
treatment or samples to be taken
and who you should contact from
the research team if the woman is
admitted / delivers. The current
maternity studies that will be
flagged on Medway are STOPPIT2
and Phoenix.
CDR Flagging system: This system
is primarily being used for flagging
women on clinical trials
investigating medicinal products or
devices. If the woman is consented
to a research study a small blue
box saying R&D will appear next to
the patient name. There will then
be a link to the study patient
information sheet and the research
team contact details will be
available. The studies within
maternity that will be flagged on
the system are:
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STOPPIT2
Phoenix
EVERREST
STRIDER
Nurses Changing Role in Research
An article written by Dr Susan Hamer has recently been
published in the Nursing Times. Susan, Director of nursing,
learning and organisational development for NIHR Clinical
Research Network, writes about the changing environment of the
NHS and research in the last ten years, and how these changes
have enabled nurses to be actively involved in research:
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Every nurse can now be actively involved in clinical research
Clinical research is now carried out as part of NHS core
services
Frontline routine data is an important resource for clinical
research and needs to be collected to the highest standard
The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s code identifies key
skills closely associated with supporting high standards of
clinical research practice
Patients are increasingly creating and sharing their own data,
and need to be empowered to do this safely and effectively
The article also reflects on the use of data, information and
knowledge and how this is used in everyday practice through
research to improve patient care.
To read Susans article in the Nursing Times, go to:
http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursingpractice/specialisms/educators/the-nurses-changing-role-inclinical-research/5090502.article?referrer=RSS
Good Clinical Practice (GCP) training:
Everyone involved in the conduct of clinical research must have
training to ensure they are best prepared to carry out their duties.
This is laid down in the Research Governance Framework for
Health and Social Care 2005, covering all research in the NHS in
England, and in law for those people working on clinical trials.
To recruit to research studies you must complete the online GCP
training course every two years. We are encouraging all doctors
to complete this training so you can assist the research midwives
and nurses recruiting to studies that require a doctor to
countersign the consent form.
When you have completed the online training or if you have a
current certificate please bring it, along with your CV, to the
research midwives based in Fetal Medicine. We can then update
the site files and get your signature on the study delegation logs.
This will help to ensure that we are able to recruit all eligible
women to our studies.
Exciting opportunity to join the
research team:
We currently have a fantastic opportunity
for an enthusiastic and motivated
qualified Band 6 Midwife who takes pride
in delivering high quality patient care to
join our research team. Based in
Women’s Health, you will work with us to
support a team of clinicians with
recruiting to a range of National Institute
of Health Research (NIHR) portfolio
studies.
The post holder will need to be able to
prioritise their own workload and display
good interpersonal skills in working with
the Divisional Clinical Research Lead,
R&D, the CRN and staff of all levels
across UCL and UCLH and beyond.
If you are a motivated and enthusiastic
midwife with an interest in research, we
would encourage you to apply for this
position. It is currently being advertised
on www.jobs.nhs.uk and can be viewed
at http://jobs.uclh.nhs.uk/job/v423094.
The deadline for applications is Friday
20th November.
For more information about this post, or
for an informal discussion, please
contact Dawn Beaumont-Jewell for
queries concerning the CRN aspect of
the role (dawn.beaumontjewell@nihr.ac.uk, tel 020 7679 9685)
and Rebecca Daley regarding the
research team (rebecca.daley@nhs.net,
tel 020 3447 6164). Or come and have a
chat with the research midwives in FMU.
https://www.crn.nihr.ac.uk/north-thames/
GCP training is free and open to anyone to complete. To get
access to the online training please see the link below:
http://www.crn.nihr.ac.uk/learning-development/good-clinicalpractice/
The Women’s Health Research Team
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Gina Buquis, Research nurse (NNU – 07921 182 597)
Rebecca Daley, Research Midwife (FMU ext. 76164 )
Sarah Ekladios, Research Gynae Nurse (EPU ext. 71302)
Paula Lavandeira Fernandez, Research Midwife (FMU ext. 76164)
Chiara Messina, Research Midwife (Delivery Suite bleep 1202)
Jade Okell, Research nurse (NNU - 07969 348 069)
Kerry Oxenford, Research Midwife (FMU ext. 76164)
For more information about any of our other studies please email
UCLH.researchmidwives@nhs.net or call 07903 949 876