Current Research Projects

If you are eligible, you will have been sent an invitation to participate via SMS or letter. If you think you are eligible and are interested, but have not been invited, please do contact the research teams directly below:

RELIEF

Asthma/new inhaler

Assessing a new relief inhaler for mild Asthma; the overall aim is to determine the clinical effectiveness, cost effectiveness and acceptability, of replacing SABA inhalers with inhalers containing ICS/formoterol in patients with asthma treated with low dose ICS maintenance treatment.

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TIGER

Food allergy

Investigating the feasibility of evaluating the use of routine food allergy tests for the control of childhood eczema.

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PETRUSHKA

Mental Health

Is a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) that aims to personalise pharmacological treatment for adults with major depressive disorder in the NHS

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OPTIMESE 2

Hypertension

Optimising prescription of treatment in older patients with mild hypertension at increased risk of serious adverse events.

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FREE DM2

Diabetes

This study will measure the impact of using the FreeStyle Libre 3 glucose monitoring system on glucose control for people with type 2 diabetes.

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IID3

Infectious Intestinal Disease

Infectious intestinal disease (IID), usually presenting as diarrhoea and vomiting (D&V), is frequently preventable. Though often mild and self-limiting, the fact that it is so common makes IID an important public health problem. In the mid-1990s around 1 in 5 people in England experienced IID in a year, costing around £0.75 billion. The economic impact comprised costs to the cases themselves, to the NHS and to employers in terms of time off work when sick, or time off work looking after someone who was sick. By the late 2000s IID across the UK had increased, affecting around 1 in 4 people. The estimated cost to the nation had also risen to approximately £9 billion. The IID1 Study (performed 1993-1996) and the IID2 Study (2008-2009) also helped us to understand the inaccuracies in national surveillance data. Now we want to measure IID burden again, to find out whether controls introduced by the Food Standards Agency have worked. We also want to re-calibrate national surveillance data. The Third Study of Infectious Intestinal Disease in the Community (IID3 Study), like its predecessors, comprises separate but related studies. We will estimate community IID rates in a prospective, all-age, population-based cohort study with weekly follow-up over a calendar year. We will also perform a prospective study of people presenting to their General Practice with IID symptoms. We will request faecal samples from all cases and test them for a very wide range of germs (pathogens), including markers of antimicrobial resistance, using modern molecular methods. We will also audit routine clinical and laboratory practice in primary care. We will calculate rates of IID overall, and pathogen-specific rates, in the community and presenting to Primary Care and compare the results with the previous studies. Finally, we will combine all our results to re-calibrate national surveillance data.

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Research in the NHS in collaboration with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)

The NHS is committed to the innovation, and to the promotion, conduct and use of research to improve the current and future health and care of the population.

Clinical Research is a major driver of innovation and central to NHS practice for maintaining and developing high standards of patient care. Participating in Clinical research allows patients to get access to new interventions, treatments and medicines.

Ultimately, investment in research means better and more cost-effective care for patients. 

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the nation's largest funder of health and care research and provides the people, facilities and technology that enables research to thrive. Working in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients and the public, they deliver and enable world-class research that transforms people's lives, promotes economic growth and advances science.

Woodlands Medical Centre is part of a network of local practices participating in research activities under the banner of National Institute for Health and Care Research Clinical Research Network: Thames Valley and South Midlands (NIHR CRN TVSM). The CRN TVSM is hosted by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire. 

Find out more about the work of the National Institute for Health and Care Research

 

Support for Primary Care Research

The NIHR works with researchers and primary care practitioners such as GPs, practice nurses, pharmacists and dentists to promote the successful delivery of research studies in the NHS. We support a wide range of research including studies which look at:

  • Promoting a healthier lifestyle
  • Disease diagnosis and prevention
  • Management of long-term illnesses such as diabetes or hypertension
  • Prevention of future ill-health
  • Treating common conditions such as influenza
     

Practice collaboration with research data registries

Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD)

We are part of Clinical Practice Research Datalink which means that we contribute de-identified data to CPRD (Clinical Practice Research Datalink) for public health research. CPRD is a real-world research service supporting retrospective and prospective public health and clinical studies and is jointly sponsored by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the National Institute for Health Research (National Institute for Health and Care Research), as part of the Department of Health and Social Care. 

Individual patients cannot be identified from this information but you are able to opt out if you prefer. Protecting the confidentiality of patient data is paramount, and only anonymised patient data is provided to researchers.

 

Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research Surveillance Centre (RSC)

We are part of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research Surveillance Centre (RSC) which means that we contribute de-identified data to the RSC for public health research.  The RSC is an active research and surveillance unit that collects and monitors data, in particular Influenza, from practices across England. 

Individual patients cannot be identified from this information.

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