Adam loves making a difference
Research co-ordinator Adam Champion says he loves the fact that the team is doing something good for the patients, practices and health service as a whole.
Adam, who has been with the team since March 2019, says that the scope of their work brings real benefit by contributing to the development of new medicines, vaccines and ways of working. His remit initially was to make sure there was a clear and accurate flow of data. As the team has grown he now spends more time dealing with contracts and setting up of new studies, making sure that the tools and training are in place to support multiple projects. He has also set up a series of bespoke data trackers to collate key information in 'at a glance' formats: 'We are still refining it as a tool; but that will be a forever project!'
Adam has seen a shift over the years from academic studies to more commercial ones: 'The academic studies tended to be more focused on refining procedures, for example, a finger-prick test for cholesterol that involved gaining consent from hundreds of patients. When I have seen how similar centres operate I am very proud of what we do. As one of the biggest super-practices we are very lucky as we have access to a huge number of patients, so we want to offer them the opportunity to experience these life changing procedures or drugs first. We run a search using the study criteria and approach eligible patients to see if they wish to take part or have more information. Many do so for altruistic reasons.
'I am happy to be involved in doing something good for the practice, the patients and the NHS; these are not just UK but global studies and it makes me personally proud to be involved in this sort of research which can yield positive benefits for decades to come.'