Research

Clinical research drives forward understanding of health and wellbeing to help people live healthier lives.  Research aims to improve treatment, diagnosis, prevention, and healthcare for the benefit of all patients.

Here at Tyntesfield, we have an established research team and regularly contribute to local, national, and international studies. We are so grateful to patients who have supported our research in the past and extend our thanks to you all for your contribution to clinical research – it really makes a difference!

How can I take part in a research study?

You can contribute to clinical research by directly taking part in studies or by agreeing to your health information being shared. 

If you meet the criteria for a study, you may be invited to take part by letter, text or phone call, or during a consultation with the doctor or nurse.

You may see a poster on our website, or in the waiting room, and think you may be suitable – please get in touch with our research team to discuss how to volunteer.

 

Do I have to take part in a research study?

No – taking part in a research study is entirely voluntary and can only be done so with your consent. If you choose to take part in a study, but later change your mind you can withdraw at any stage. You can be completely reassured that this will not affect your ongoing routine care at our practice.

 

What about my data?

The studies we support all have ethical approval to ensure they are safe for you to take part in and that your information is treated confidentially, in accordance with UK laws and rules (including GDPR).

If you consent to be involved in a study, the research team may need us to provide some data from your health records, for example to confirm that you are eligible to take part or to evaluate the new drug or treatment. We would only share identifiable data with your consent.

In some cases, other studies will use ‘informatics tools’ to extract ‘pseudoanonymised’ data from the practice more generally. This means that before it leaves the practice, all patient identifiers (i.e. name, DOB, address or NHS number) are removed so it cannot be identified to a particular patient. You can opt out of your date being used for this purpose here.

Organisations we are currently involved in are:

CPRD: a government service that provides anonymised patient data for research to improve patient and public health. You cannot be identified from the information sent to CPRD. 

Optimum patient care: a not-for-profit, social enterprise, aimed at improving disagnosis, treatment and management of chronic diseases within primary care.

 

Who funds the research?

Most research we are involved in are academic studies, hosted by universities. For these studies we receive funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (https://www.nihr.ac.uk/).

Occasionally we undertake commercial studies and funding for these often comes from pharmaceutical companies.

You are welcome to ask any questions you have about the study sponsors.

 

How do I get in touch?

If you are interested in taking part in any of our studies, or want to know more about research at Tyntesfield, please feel free to give our research team a call on 02175 850611 (direct line) or email us at bnssg.researchtmg@nhs.net. 

We look forward to hearing from you!

 

Current Research Studies: Open to Recruitment

Athena

This surgery is supporting the ATHENA shingles study

We want to find out if taking amitriptyline can prevent the persistent pain that some people get after shingles.

50 years or older and recently got shingles? You may be able to take part. Ask your doctor for more information. Website: www.bristol.ac.uk/athena-study

Email: athena-study@bristol.ac.uk

Twitter: @AthenaStudy

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This surveillance study is monitoring immunity of the population to infectious diseases, with a particular focus on respiratory viruses.

Patients attending a routine blood sample appointment will be offered the opportunity to provide an extra sample of blood for inclusion within the study.

 

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AvonCAP GP2: general practice study about chest infections

This study is about chest infections and worsening of asthma, COPD and heart failure. We want to understand: (a) what impact these illnesses have on patients and the NHS; (b) how many of these illnesses could be prevented by vaccination (e.g. with COVID vaccines and other vaccines that are being developed); and (c) what groups of patients might benefit most from vaccination.  For patients who choose to take part, we will collect information (data) from their GP records about them and their illness; collect samples from their nose, throat, saliva and urine; and ask them to complete a diary about their symptoms and wellbeing.  We will send participants “Love to Shop” vouchers to reimburse them for their time.

Patients who are eligible to take part will be contacted by phone and, wherever possible, the study team will ask their permission to use their data. Patients can choose to opt out – if they do, we will collect a small amount of non-identifiable data from their record (e.g. age, gender, qualifying condition, reason for opting out) so that we can compare them to patients who choose to take part. Sometimes, despite our efforts, we will be unable to contact the patient. To get a more complete picture of the number of chest infections, we would still like to include their information even without consent. We hold specific approval from the Health Research Authority’s Confidentiality Advisory Group for this. We are very careful to keep data confidential. The data will be anonymised - there will be no way of identifying the patient from the data.

This study is led by researchers at the University of Bristol and is funded by Pfizer. For more information, please see the study website  or contact the research team by email bnssg.avoncapgp.tmg@nhs.net or phone 0117 958 1405.

Short films: Why take part in research?  About the AvonCAP GP2 study

Current Research Studies: Closed to Recruitment

safertrial

We are taking part in the SAFER Trial, a research trial about screening for atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) to reduce the risk of stroke.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge want to find out if a national screening programme for atrial fibrillation:

  • is possible
  • will prevent strokes
  • is good value for money

Eligible patients aged 70 years and over will have received an invitation letter from the practice in the post. For more information about the SAFER Trial please visit www.safer.phpc.cam.ac.uk. Queries about the trial should be made to the research team on 01223 763491 or SAFER@medschl.cam.ac.uk

HPValidate Study

Tyntesfield Medical Centre has been selected to take part in an important study to test the use of self-sampling in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England. Self-sampling is a new method that is being considered for the NHS Cervical Screening Programme; this test can be completed at home and if implemented in the programme could increase access to screening for many people.

Before self-sampling can be offered as part of routine screening, it needs to be tested to ensure that the results are as accurate as the results from a sample taken by a doctor or nurse.

HPValidate is a study that is being led by Public Health England which will compare self-taken samples with samples taken by a doctor or nurse. This will help the NHS Cervical Screening Programme to decide what device/s could be used for HPV self-sampling in the future.

We are inviting patients who are due for routine cervical screening (smear test) to take part in this study; participants will be asked to use one of the self-tests before having their sample taken by the doctor or nurse.  If you receive an invitation letter with information about the study please talk to your doctor or nurse when you come in for your appointment and they will be able to provide you with further information.

Completed Research Studies: Published Results

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