The Anonymous Widower

Bonus For GPs If Patients Join Drug Trials In Plan To Lure Firms To NHS

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.

This is the sub-heading.

£650m boost for medical research after number of participants slumps

These three paragraphs outline what is to be done.

Tens of thousands more patients will be signed up for clinical trials as ministers promise drug companies better access to the NHS to expand the economy and develop cutting-edge treatments.

Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, is promising a £650 million package to boost life sciences as he attempts to lure pharmaceutical giants to Britain.

GPs will be offered financial incentives to recruit patients into trials of new treatments and hospitals will be given research targets under plans to reverse a slump in clinical testing while the NHS struggles with the backlog from Covid-19.

It all sounds good to me.

I have been involved in several trials and medical research projects.

• As part of my coeliac disease diagnosis, one endoscopy was performed by Rebecca Fitzgerald at Cambridge, as she was taking samples of bile fluids for her research into Barrett’s esophagus.
• After the death of my wife, I was interviewed by PhD students in the Psychology Department at Liverpool University for their research into widowhood.
• Oxford University interviewed me on diet for their coeliac disease research.
• After my stroke, I spent an entertaining afternoon at the University of East London doing balance tests by computer. Their aim was to develop a reliable balance test for stroke and other patients, that could be carried out by physiotherapists quickly, than by more expensive doctors.
• I have also been on a drug trial at Queen Mary University, but that drug was useless and had no good or bad affects, so the trial was halted. However, it did lead to other enjoyable activities in the field of patient relations with treatment and research.

As a confirmed coward, I should note that with the exception of the drug trial, all of the other projects were low risk.

I should say, that I also sponsor pancreatic cancer research at Liverpool University, in memory of my son, who died from the disease. I wrote about the first Liverpool project in There’s More To Liverpool Than Football And The Beatles!.

A Database Of Projects Open For Volunteers

I believe that this is needed, so that those like me, who like to contribute to research can volunteer.

Perhaps some of the £650 million, that has been promised by Jeremy Hunt, could be used to create the database.

I also believe the database could be used for other non-medical research.

May 29, 2023 - Posted by AnonW | Computing, Health | Cambridge University, Coeliac/Gluten-Free, Database, Endoscopy, Liverpool University, Oxford University, Pancreatic Cancer, Pharmaceuticals, Physiotherapy, Psychology, Queen Mary University, Rebecca Fitzgerald, Research, University of East London