South West healthcare professionals and researchers gather for successful conference

Healthcare professionals and academic researchers from across the South West heard from research teams at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust and its research partners on Friday13 September and hailed this year's conference another great success.

Recognised by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) for their role in promoting clinical research in the NHS, Plymouth Hospitals’ Research Team hosted the third annual research conference at the Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Research and clinical trials are a daily part of the work at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust and the conference was an opportunity to showcase the Trust’s wide portfolio of research and to encourage collaboration, participation and a generation of new, innovative research, both within the hospital, with academic partners such as Plymouth University and across the South West Peninsula for the benefit of the patients.

The 200-strong delegates, from across the peninsula, had a packed and full-day programme, hearing presentations about Parkinson’s Disease, advances in imaging and the use of social robots in healthcare.

Dr Helen Neilens, Research Advisor at Plymouth Hospitals and organiser of the event, said: “We are delighted with the turnout and interest we have had in this year’s conference. It has been a great opportunity to reflect on the diversity of the South West’s health research and how fortunate we are to have so many talented researchers who are dedicated in working together and conducting research for the benefit of all NHS patients.

“This year’s conference has provided a platform to encourage collaboration, participation and the generation of new, innovative research, both locally and across the South West Peninsula between us and other healthcare professionals and academic researchers.”
Professor Simon Rule, Associate Medical Director for Research and Development at Plymouth Hospitals, introduced the day. Describing research as the cornerstone of excellence within healthcare, he said: “Critically analysing what we do with patients, evaluating outcomes and striving to constantly improve on these should be the key drivers to how we work. Research is the methodology behind this and needs to become embedded in the culture of the health service.

“Over the last few years this philosophy has become increasingly widespread in Plymouth and in the recent five year plan for Derriford research features prominently. This is hard to achieve in isolation and the intention of these conferences has been to showcase the research activity within the hospital and medical school in order to promote and foster collaboration.”

This year’s key note speaker was the eminent consultant of neurology, Professor John Hodges from Australia who shared his learning as the Senior Principal Research Fellow at NeuRA.

Professor Hodges has written over 400 papers on aspects of neuropsychology (especially memory and languages) and dementia, plus six books and he is currently building a multidisciplinary research group focusing on aspects of frontotemporal dementia.

Professor Hodges is working with a team from Derriford Hospital and Plymouth University to develop an app for assessing dementia which will be available free of charge to clinicians later this year.

Other speakers included:

• Jeremy Hobart, Professor of Clinical Neurology and Health Measurement, Institute of Translational & Stratified Medicine, Plymouth University
• Professor Rob Sneyd, Dean of Plymouth University, Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry
• Mr Andy Barton, Associate Professor of Health Services Research, Plymouth University, Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry
• Dr David Hilton, Consultant Pathologist, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust
• Professor Carl Roobottom, Consultant Radiologist, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust
• Dr Gary Minto, Anaesthetics Consultant, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust
• Professor Oliver Hanemann, Director of the Institute for Translational and Stratified Medicine, Plymouth University
• Dr Lucy Ellis, Chief Investigator, Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust
• Bridie Kent, Professor in Leadership in Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Plymouth University
• Professor Tony Belpaeme, Professor in Cognitive Robotics, School of Computing/Mathematics, Plymouth University

Clinical research is a vital part of the NHS and provides the evidence required to establish ‘what works’ to help develop effective treatments for patient care. Research and clinical trials range from questionnaires to highly complex randomised control trials, testing new drugs and therapies on sometimes rare conditions.

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust has a well established reputation for high quality research and development and a strong record of participation in commercial and non-commercial clinical trials in areas including diabetes, neurosciences and haematology.