RUH joins global study onto virus

Bath research teams are taking part in critical international studies into Covid-19 and looking at possible treatments for people affected.

The Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust (RUH) has joined others across the UK in answering Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty’s call for urgent collaboration into investigating the disease after he wrote to every NHS trust. In the letter, the country’s five most senior doctors highlighted the crucial role of gathering reliable evidence to combat the pandemic.

The UK is now running clinical trials in primary care, hospital and intensive care settings.

At the RUH a large study has been open since the start of the pandemic, gathering information from positive Covid-19 patients that may help scientists to understand more about the virus.

There are also a number of studies going on in the RUH’S Intensive Care Unit involving Covid-19 patients, some to trial treatments and another which aims to identify genes that may make some people more unwell.

A clinical trial has also begun across the whole trust, trying out drugs used for different viruses with the aim of identifying possible treatments to help patients recover.

Dr Kelly Spencer, RUH research manager, operations, said: “We’re really proud to be a research-active hospital and proud to be participating in these research studies.”