Research
Mendip Vale Medical Group is delighted to be able to deliver primary care research to our patient population, giving our patients the opportunity to be involved in important research in order to make a difference to the future of healthcare.
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the entity that supports the health and care research infrastructure within the NHS. The infrastructure is made up of 15 local Clinical Research Networks (CRNs). CRNs support patients and health professionals to support, deliver and participate in relevant research studies.
Our local CRN is the West of England hosted by the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. We work closely with the primary care research network within this organisation supporting feasible local and national studies hosted by our network.
Each year we submit our application to be part of the research site initiative scheme. This provides us with funding to host a large number of research projects and the infrastructure to invite and deliver them to our patient population.
We currently hold the top tier status of research known as sessional.
In order to maintain this status we need to deliver high quality of research opportunities to our patients. We also collaborate with recognised research groups outside of the local CRN in order to bring more opportunities for our patients to become involved in primary care research.
We are a research ready practice, a stipulated requirement to be able to conduct research in primary care.
We may invite you to participate, either opportunistically during an appointment, or by letter.
Participation is entirely optional and we never release your details to a third party without your prior consent.
Meet the Team
 | Dr Richard Reed (GP Partner and Research Lead)As a GP Partner I took on the research lead as a new entity for the practice in 2013. Since then I am proud to have contributed to raising the profile of the practice in primary care research to the highest level. We have hosted a large number of studies with excellent recruitment rates to a fair number of these. I have been pleased to see that our patients are enthusiastic about being involved and making a difference to the future of healthcare. |
 | Tracey Leaper (Research Administrator)I have worked at the surgery since 2004, and part of my role is to provide administrative support for the Research Team. This includes coordinating data, liaising with patients, the local research network and the research study teams. I find my role very interesting and rewarding and I am very proud to be part of such a dedicated team. I feel confident, that all of our hard work, alongside the much appreciated support and participation of our patients, that we can all contribute towards improving healthcare for future generations. |
 | Jo Wessell (Advance Nurse Practitioner)I work as a Nurse Practitioner and have an interest in clinical research. This interest grew when I undertook my BSc at Lancaster University. Health care is constantly changing with new practices and clinical management. We all as clinicians have to ensure we are giving the best and most effective care to our patients. Research allows us to test suggested strategies. Patients constantly prove to astound me with their willingness to participate in research trials. This is a fantastic collaboration with our patients. This further motivates us as research clinicians. |
 | Sandra Cook (Research Nurse)I started doing research alongside my practice nursing. Since then I have now taken research on as my main role. I very much enjoy being able to spend the time with patients. I feel my input and continuity with patients builds up a good rapport. Making sure my role is flexible allows us to be able to recruit good numbers to studies which in turn has made our team high recruiters within our area. This has helped promote our profile within the surgery.
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 | Dr Hema Setty (Associate GP)Working as an Associate GP at the Practice, I am a keen advocate of good evidenced-based care. By being involved in research, I can pursue this objective and I am immensely grateful to those patients who volunteer to assist. Research in practice can help us identify which treatments are most beneficial and allow us to ensure that they are used in the best way. It can fill in gaps in our knowledge and assist healthcare professionals to improve their ability to care for patients. Ultimately, high quality research helps the NHS improve future healthcare. |
 | Harriet Rye (Practice Nurse)I became a Practice Nurse as soon as I qualified in 2014 and have continued to further my knowledge and skills through additional courses and diplomas . I have always been passionate about providing up to date effective care and so when the opportunity to join the research team arose I was quick to put my name forward! It is very rewarding to be part of the friendly team and I enjoy the extra time it allows me to spend with patients. I hope our research will be beneficial to the wider public in the future. |
 | Chris Walsh (Practice Nurse)I have been involved in research for approximately 4 ½ years alongside practice nursing. “Without research there would be no end product. Sometimes research doesn’t work but that’s part of the elimination process”. |
 | Jane Oakley (Administrator)I began working with the research administration just under a year ago. I find the work interesting and I think it’s great that patients are given the opportunity to get involved with a wide a variety of research projects, with the support of the research teams and their surgery. It’s really important that research continues and I’m always happy to speak to patients who would like to get involved. |
Current Studies
 | antidepressants to prevent relapse in depression (antler) There is little evidence for the effectiveness of long term maintenance treatment in preventing relapse for depression in primary care. ANTLER is a study designed to estimate the clinical effectiveness of patients continuing long term maintenance antidepressants. The trial is suitable for those who have taken antidepressants for at least 9 months but are now well enough to consider stopping the treatment. | You may receive an invite to participate in this trial by post. For more info please contact research team, or speak to your usual doctor about the trial. |
 | Antibiotics for lower Respiratory Tract Infection in Children presenting in Primary Care (ARTIC PC) Do Antibiotics help children recover from simple chest infections? We do not know, we would like you to help us find out. This study is looking at the effectiveness of Amoxicillin for treating chest infections in children aged 6months to 12 years. | We may invite you to participate during a consultation. Enrolment is entirely optional. |
 | Benefits of Aldosterone Receptor Antagonism in Chronic Kidney Disease (BARACK-D) This study is looking at whether a medication called spironolactone, which is a licensed drug that is used for a number of other medical conditions, can help improve the treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and help prevent heart disease. CKD is a term commonly used by doctors to describe a long-term impairment in kidney function, frequently accounted for by the natural ageing process, giving no sudden cause for concern. You may receive a letter inviting you to take part if you have evidence of stage 3b CKD.
| If you are interested and think you may have this level of kidney disease, please email the research team for more information |
 | Best Emollient for Eczema (BEE) BEE is a research study that will improve the treatment of childhood eczema by finding out which emollients (moisturisers) are most acceptable and effective. The study is open to children aged 6 months to 12 years with at least mild eczema. | For more information please click here to see the BEE invite flyer. |
 | Renewed Online Study – Cancer: Life Affirming Survivorship support in Primary care (CLASP5) There is currently an unmet need for tailored support in primary care for cancer survivors to improve their quality of life. This study aims to evaluate an online intervention offering lifestyle and wellbeing support for cancer survivors of breast, colorectal and prostate cancer. Patients who have finished their primary treatment will be invited to participate by a letter of invitation. | If you would like to be included in this study and have not received an invite letter, please contact the research team. |
Coordinated Programme to Prevent Arthritis: Can We Identify Arthritis at a Pre-Clinical stage? | CCP Study Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common condition affecting 1-2% of the adult population in this country. The study is looking at identifying patients who may be at a very early stage of RA, which may often include non-specific muscular symptoms such as a tendonitis or a single joint pain. This study involves a blood test looking for a specific antibody which is highly linked with developing RA. If this blood test is positive you would then be invited to have a further assessment by the study team to look for early evidence of RA. | Contact research team for more info, or speak to your usual doctor about the trial. Click here for the information leaflet about the trial. |
 | Personalised medicine for Asthma ConTrol (PACT) There is evidence that a frequently used asthma controller medication called salmeterol may not benefit all those children who take it. Certain gene variations have be found to be linked to poor asthma control in children. This study is opened to young people aged 12-18 years with asthma, taking inhaled medication. The focus of this study is to investigate whether personalised prescribing, according to a child’s genetic make-up and asthma symptoms can improve the quality of life and their asthma control. | Currently closed to any further recruitment PACT website |
 | Repurposing anti-TNF for treating Dupuytren’s disease (RIDD) Do you have dupuytren’s disease? Dupuytren’s contracture (or disease) is when one or more fingers bend towards your palm (usually the ring and little fingers), making you unable to straighten out these fingers. It tends to develop slowly over months or years. Usually treatment is reserved until the condition is more severe. A research study in Oxford is looking to recruit people with early stage disease to see how effective a new injection is at controlling the progression of the condition. | For more information click here for trial information leaflet |
 | StartRight: Getting the right classification and treatment from diagnosis of diabetes This study aims to achieve a more accurate early classification of diabetes and identification of which patients will rapidly require insulin treatment. This study is open to patients aged 18-50 diagnosed with diabetes in the last 12 months. | Please click here for study information leaflet. |
 | TriMaster: A research study to help improve treatment of Type 2 diabetes, by learning how individuals respond to different blood sugar-lowering drug. This study is looking at three standard diabetes treatments which can be added when one (metformin) or two (metformin + gliclazide) existing medicines stop maintaining good blood sugar levels (HbA1c >58). It will compare how patients with different blood sugar levels, weight and kidney function respond and which treatments patient prefers. | Please click here for study information leaflet |
 | NAXOS Study Are you receiving opioid (morphine or morphine-like) pain medication, which causes constipation? This study is looking at whether a well-known drug called naloxone can reverse the side effects of constipation when using these pain relieving medications - rather than relying on standard laxative medications alone, which don’t always work. This trial is sponsored by Develco Pharma Scweiz AG and we are collaborating with Clevedon Medical Centre to deliver this research study to our patients | You may be contacted by our research team by phone or letter. If you are interested in this study please contact the research team for more details. |
Previous Studies
TIMeLi
please click here to learn more about these previous research studies.
Newsletter
April 2018
August 2018
Feedback Comments
It was further to a referral by Mendip Vale Practice to Southmead Hospital that I was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. I had just been discharged from Southmead and was invited to take part in the Barack-d study. From the start Sandra went through the procedures with me. I had regular blood and blood pressure measurements taken, with a blood pressure monitor supplied when measurements needed to be taken at home and posted to Oxford university. I had ECG tests at the start and finish of the study. In all I was looked after extremely well throughout the study with many thanks to the practice especially Sandra. A.H. April 2018 Barack D Study |
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