Almost 800 Essex patients take part in Covid-19 Recovery trial
Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford - Credit: Archant
Almost 800 Covid-19 patients in Essex are part of a global trial to help discover what treatments are effective against coronavirus.
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust has been part of the Recovery trial since March 2020, with Broomfield Hospital treating patients in the area.
The research project was set up shortly after the outbreak of Covid-19 to help find an effective treatment for the virus.
Some 39,000 people are taking part in the trial worldwide across 180 centres.
Ashley Solieri, group head of research for the Trust, said: "It’s great to have almost 800 volunteers involved in this fight against Covid.
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"Everyone is playing their part.
"These amazing figures are down to the dedication of the research team and the amazing support of the clinical teams in the Trust.
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"The Trust is always looking for more people who have or have had Covid to take part in the research.”
The Recovery trial is led by researchers from the University of Oxford.
In a major breakthrough last year, a commonly used steroid called dexamethasone became the first drug shown to save the lives of Covid-19 patients on ventilators.
It was identified by Recovery researchers.
Ashley said the research was important because it could improve patient outcomes at hospitals.
She said: "New treatments are always being added and removed from the trial as the research team in Oxford review the results to help identify treatments that may be beneficial for people hospitalised with suspected or confirmed Covid-19."
Between March 19, 2020 - when Mid and South Essex NHS Trust took on its first Covid-19 patient - and April 11 this year, 8,779 people have been admitted to one of the Trust's hospitals with the virus.
Carol Allen, 65, is a patient on the Recovery trial.
He said: "They have been so good to me. They put me on a course of steroids and tried the blood plasma as well when I first came in.
Mr Carol Allen, 65, is on the Recovery trial - Credit: Supplied by Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
"I’m still on oxygen and that’s down to the research that was done on me.
"They are all angels and I don’t think I would be here if it was not for them."
