Published on: 4th August 2016
Mental health research is booming in Lincolnshire, according to findings in a new national report.
Studies into dementia, ADHD in children, and innovative neuropsychological treatments were just a few of the high level topics tackled by clinicians and a dedicated team of health research professionals at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) last year.
The National Institute for Health Research’s (NIHR) Clinical Research Network East Midlands, confirms that LPFT was involved in a total of 25 national research projects for 2015/16, recruiting 406 patients, carers and staff members to help out along the way.
The Trust’s committed clinical and research staff, host numerous studies throughout the year, covering all aspects of mental health and learning disability NHS care and are always looking for willing volunteers to get involved and take part.
Research Coordinator at LPFT, Tracy McCranor said that her team remains as committed as ever to improving the quality of research undertaken by the Trust.
Bringing research opportunities to the Trust – to give our staff, patients and carers a national voice - is vitally important and every clinical research trial helps to improve the future healthcare opportunities for our patients and their families
, she said.
Our delivery team is outstanding in their support of research across the Trust and deserves acknowledgement for their focus and determination which knows no bounds.
LPFT has recently been involved in a number of dementia studies and is proactively raising awareness of the national Join Dementia Research campaign.
Developed by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in partnership with, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer Scotland and the Alzheimer's Society, Join Dementia Research is a service which allows people to register their interest in participating in dementia research and be matched to suitable studies.
Our Trust is now issuing a Join Dementia Research leaflet in every post dementia diagnosis pack and we are extremely proud to be letting our patients and their carers know about this important initiative
, added Tracy.
Every patient has the right to information about relevant and appropriate research studies and the opportunity to contribute to generating evidence which will improve future care and treatment.
Other recent research success has also included the Trust’s clinical neuropsychology department securing funding to recruit an assistant psychologist to lead a study focussing on rehabilitation for attention and memory problems for people with multiple sclerosis.
This new post will be supported by the research delivery team to work with service users from hospitals across the county to deliver a new form of cognitive treatment.
The team also received high praise from visiting Care Quality Commission inspectors last year, who noted in their comprehensive report on Trust services that ‘the trust is heavily involved and committed to dementia research and was actively taking part in or applying for a multitude of research projects to improve dementia care across their services’.
LPFT’s Director of Nursing and Quality, Anne-Maria Olphert, said the Trust’s mission to lead new and innovative research is an important focus for the organisation in the months ahead.
Research continually helps to drive forward service quality, allowing us to constantly improve the standard of care we’re providing for service users and their families
, said Anne-Maria.
We are excited to be involved in a number of national projects and recently attended an Impact Conference in London to discuss the findings of a study into care planning for people with mental health problems. The views and experiences of many service users, carers and health professionals have been gathered during the course of this research, which will then be used to further improve the quality of our community mental health and inpatient teams.
