Research

Bay Medical Group (BMG) is proud to be a research active organisation - we are part of a network of local practices participating in high quality research activities funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network - North West Coast (CRN)

As a practice we believe research is a vitally important aspect of the high standard of care we provide to our patients. The NHS Constitution (2015) states research is a core function of the NHS- it is a major driver of innovation and central to NHS practice for maintaining and developing high standards of patient care.

"The only way we move forward it to research. It's not a process that should ever stop."  Professor Tom Robinson is the Nationally Specialty Lead for Stroke for the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network.

As we are a ‘research active’ practice this means we take part in a wide range of studies. As of August 2020, BMG has been officially granted Research Ready accreditation to reflect our commitment to high quality research. The purpose of conducting medical research is to obtain robust scientific evidence to establish whether or not new treatments have the effects that we think they might. Research helps to enhance knowledge on how to treat conditions, prevent illnesses and form the best care across society and within the NHS. Volunteering to get involved may mean filling in questionnaires, surveys, talking to one of the research team, or trialling a new treatment or drug.

A strict code of conduct is at the heart of all of our work to make sure data is always confidential. More information can be found here.

Current Research Trials

Studies in Follow Up

VIEW OUR STUDIES IN FOLLOW UP

How can you help and take part in research at Bay Medical Group? 

• A doctor or nurse may talk to you about a particular study and ask whether you would be interested in participating
• You may be sent information through the post if you seem suitable for a study
• If there is a particular trial you are interested in being involved with please use the contact form below

Your participation is entirely voluntary, there is no obligation to take part - you can withdraw yourself at any time throughout the research study process without any explanation required.

You can keep up to date with the research studies we are involved with here, or via our social media pages on Facebook and Twitter.

Please do get in touch with any queries or for further information about any of the studies we are currently running please use our secure contact form.

If you'd like to know more about research and how you can contribute, please visit the Be Part of Research site, which is run by the National Institute for Health Research.

Published Findings

All Heart Study

53 Bay Medical Group patients took part in this study from 2017-2021 which aimed to determine whether allopurinol therapy improves major cardiovascular outcomes in patients with ischaemic heart disease.

The study concluded: In this large, randomised clinical trial in patients aged 60 years or older with ischaemic heart disease but no history of gout, there was no difference in the primary outcome of non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, or cardiovascular death between participants randomised to allopurinol therapy and those randomised to usual care.

Read the full research article

StatinWise

20 Bay Medical Group patients took part in this study from 2017-2018 which aimed to determine whether statins cause muscle pain, thus allowing patients to make well-informed decisions whether to stop them or not.

The study concluded: The key result of this work is that patients reported no difference, on average, in their muscle symptoms between periods when they were taking a statin and periods when they were taking a placebo. We also assessed impact on the patient’s quality of life by looking at how statins effected the following areas: general activity, mood, walking ability, normal work, relations with other people, sleep, and enjoyment of life. As with muscle symptoms, there was no evidence of a difference between statin and placebo periods. The majority of patients who finished the trial decided to continue using statins after the trial. Future research should be done to assess different statin doses – notably the higher doses often used following a heart attack. In addition, further work is needed to see how the approach we used could be adopted into everyday clinical care.

Find more information at StatinWISE: a simple summary including results

DARE: Diabetes Alliance For Research in England

The DARE Study is a community wide collaboration between patients and professionals to provide a research resource to enable further study into the causes and complications of diabetes.
Since the study started in 2007 over 12,000 people have volunteered within the Exeter area and greater than 60,000 nationwide.

The DARE Study will continue as planned to follow up those participants already taking part and to carry on with extensive data analysis.
Thankyou to all the BMG patients that took part.

Find more information at Diabetes Alliance for Research in England (DARE)

AF-GEN-UK Study

The purpose of this study is to record how patients with atrial fibrillation (an irregular heartbeat) are treated by their doctor: the types of medication, tests, procedures or interventions they receive for their atrial fibrillation; what other medical conditions they have in addition to atrial fibrillation; if they are admitted to hospital for any reason, and to compare current treatment with the guidelines doctors are supposed to follow when they treat and manage patients with atrial fibrillation
The study concluded: Published results will be available here

HEAT study- Helicobacter Eradication Aspirin Trial

Aspirin is a valuable drug, often prescribed at low doses to reduce the chance of heart attacks and strokes. However, aspirin can sometimes cause internal bleeding from ulcers. We are trying to find out whether this occurs more in patients who carry the bacteria Helicobacter (H.) pylori. This bacteria is present in the stomach of more than half the world’s population who usually do not know they have it because it seldom causes symptoms. We are conducting a study to find out whether getting rid of the bacteria with antibiotics reduces the chance of ulcer bleeding.

The study concluded: The study is still in the final stages of data analysis- we will publish the results as soon as they are available.

Integrate Study

BMG took part in a study about how diarrhoea/diarrhoea and vomiting (D&V) is diagnosed and managed in the community. of the project. In total nearly 2,000 people across the North West of England joined in, which makes this one of the biggest research studies of its kind. We were able to increase the percentage of cases of D&V that were diagnosed from around 12% using traditional laboratory tests to nearly 50% using modern technology. This represents a huge leap forwards. We were also able to show that using modern technology in the future would be cost-effective for the NHS. We should like to thank all the BMG patients who took part in the above research project, which was funded jointly by the Department of Health and Social Care and the Wellcome Trust. We could not have done it without your help.

Find out more about the Ontology to Improve Transparency in Case Definition and Increase Case Finding of Infectious Intestinal Disease

Practice Research Team

We have a dedicated research team who are involved with the delivery of research studies. They are committed to raising awareness of research within Lancashire & South Cumbria ICB increasing the availability and access to research for all of our patients.

Award Winning Research

A huge congratulations to our research team, who have been nominated for Research Delivery Team of the Year at the North West Coast Research and Innovation Awards 2023! A very well earned accolade for the incredibly important research the team have been conducting. They have also recently been awarded a Certificate of Achievement by the National Institute for Health and Care Research for their contributions to NHS research studies over the last year!

Thank you for taking part in research

In 2022/2023 Bay Medical Group recruited 2943 patients to NHS research studies. This research contributes to breakthroughs in diagnostics, treatment, prevention and interventions for patient care now and in the future. Thank you for being part of this.

 

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