It has now been 12 months since University Hospital North Midlands recruited its first patient into research studies about Covid-19.

Since that time almost 2,000 patients from Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospitals, Stafford have been involved in studies and research from diagnostic testing through to life saving drugs and therapies.

The first study the UHNM Research and Innovation team were involved in was called ISARIC - a global pandemic study which had lay dormant since 2011 ready to surface for any potential emergence of infectious disease or, in the case of 2020, a new emerging respiratory virus. With this ISARIC4C (Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium) was launched.

Dr Chris Thompson, Consultant in Renal and Intensive Care Medicine and Principal Investigator ISARIC said: "from the start of the pandemic cases of hospital admissions increased and very quickly clinical characteristic of COVID was the most important part of the study and fed in to the Chief Medical Officers response to the new pandemic.

"This was extremely fast paced with data collected and added to national database in real time. The data needed constantly changed and was implemented immediately which is something very different to usual practice in research which can often be lengthy and slow.

"As new clinical trials came on board such as the RECOVERY trial and REMAP-CAP, the data collected for ISARIC4C added supporting data assessing how quickly new treatments suitable for patients with COVID-19 in hospitals were implemented.

"Currently, the study is still looking at clinical characteristics of the disease along with real time data for patients receiving new therapies for COVID-19 such as Dexamethasone, Tociluzimab and Sarilumab.

"We have submitted 4,012 sets of data for ISARIC and this has assisted in the development and review of UHNM COVID-19 Care Plans."

The ISARIC study has included support from the whole UHNM research and innovation delivery team as well as support from the pharmacy, microbiology and nursing when data collection was focusing on tracking treatments for patients.

Dr Thompson added: "The RECOVERY trial and REMAP-CAP have helped provide new treatments in an amazing timescale for this emerging disease.

"The whole of UHNM should be immensely proud of how they have supported research into COVID-19. Additional to this and for the first time ever 250 staff at UHNM have been actively involved as research participants in the national SIREN study."