Celebrating research at SWB

Corporate And General News

We have 14 research nurses and midwives in the Trust covering outpatients, maternity, inpatient wards and critical care, as well as our clinical research facility (CRF). Although their roles were in the spotlight during the first waves of COVID-19, the research team has always been busy in the background working to improve patient outcomes in all disease areas and continues to do so.

We asked our research team what made them choose to work in clinical trials. Below, you can learn more about our amazing research staff, how they came to work in research and why they stayed.

Manjinder Gohel: I had an opportunity to work within research in 2009 when I joined Ascot Clinic which specialised in cardiology research. This made me more aware of the importance of research within the healthcare setting. Although I went back to nursing, I rejoined the research team during the pandemic, when a secondment opportunity became available. Being at the forefront of COVID-19 was very challenging but taking part in the recovery trial helped to identify new treatments for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. I really enjoyed my time within the research setting and I am now a permanent member of the team leading on cardiology trials.

Paddy Donaghy: My background is in cardiology nursing. I worked in cardiology at City Hospital for six wonderful years, alongside our R&D lead Dr Connolly, a cardiology consultant, in the cardiac catheter lab. After expressing an interest in getting involved in research, Dr Connolly invited me to work on a cardiology study. After completing my GCP training I worked a bank shift one day a week shadowing a research nurse on the study. Unfortunately, this was at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic so not long after starting a lot of the research studies were suspended. I really enjoyed my short time working in research and thought that this may be something I would like to pursue further. Not long after this I applied for a research post within the Trust and began my career in research.