It's all in the reasearch

We have an award-winning Research and Development Team focused on finding out how we can improve the care, treatment and experience of our patients.

Research Lead and Consultant Paramedic Steve Bell, Research Manager Sandra Igbodo, research paramedics Adam Wright and Michelle Waddington, and Research Support Officer Jesse Oliver are all part of the team and work closely together.

Through their work, they host research trials with clinicians, staff and patients that range from simple surveys and looking at new treatment processes, to developing a better understanding of pre-hospital care. Most of their studies are supported by The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Research Paramedic Adam Wright explains why this work is so important: “Our research uses evidencebased practice which means we combine clinical expertise, patient values, and the best available research evidence when making decisions for patient care. We help to improve treatments, reduce costs and minimise complications. Without it, our practices could stagnate and there’s a risk we could be offering outdated care to patients.

“Part of my role involves raising the profile of our research department with staff across NWAS and demonstrating how integral pre-hospital research is to the paramedic profession.

The studies that we promote examine staff opinions or wellbeing and can ultimately improve the day-to-day working life of clinical staff.

The team is currently looking into improving cardiac arrest outcomes with the national PARAMEDIC-3 project. This study builds on the knowledge from previous trials which showed that the faster adrenaline is given to a patient in cardiac arrest, the better the neurological outcome for that patient. The trial has now progressed and is currently looking at the quickest way to give adrenaline to a patient, whether that is injecting directly into the vein or bone.

So far NWAS paramedics have enrolled 325 patients into the study, contributing to the nationwide target of 15,000 patients.

The team is also working on the SPEEDY study, which looks at the effect of transporting stroke patients directly to Royal Preston Hospital for thrombectomy. This is a special procedure that removes clots blocking large blood vessels in the brain. Ordinarily, stroke patients are taken to a local hyper acute stroke unit, but this procedure is only available in a minority of specialist centres, meaning these patients undergo an additional journey that delays the thrombectomy by at least 90 minutes and reduces its benefit.

It is hoped the trial will demonstrate that direct access to specialised thrombectomy centres has a big impact on the outcome and recovery of the patient. The trial started in June 2023 and since then, our clinicians have made over 100 calls to the stroke team at Royal Preston Hospital to discuss if their patient is suitable for the procedure.

Our Research and Development Team was recognised for its work in October last year when it won the Special Award for Exceptional Experience at the Greater Manchester Health and Care Research Awards.