Thread by @charlot_summers

Feeling proud of she @HEAL_COVID Collaborative today.
Thanks to great teamwork between @NIHRresearch @livuni_LCTC @Cambridge_Uni @CUH_NHS @DHSCgovuk @MHRAgovuk @HRA_Latest @NHSDigital @NHSuk @aparitohealth @UKRI_News & multiple HEIs, we’ve gone from submitting a grant to..

..opening multiple hospital sites & enrolling our first patient in <4.5 months. Not RECOVERY trial fast, but quicker than I ever imagined possible for a trial like this. None of it would have been possible without amazing support & engagement from a multitude of people....

..many of whom never get the credit they deserve. So on the eve of #ICTD2021, I thought I might highlight some of the lesser-known heroes & their contributions to getting us this far.

@NIHRresearch - HEAL-COVID would not exist without huge support from the NIHR as our funder, but also the NIHR CRN who help with delivery, and the UPH system which has also provided input and support - so many talented staff who ensure researchers can actually do research.

@MHRAgovuk have provided expert help, advice and regulatory input, with rapid turnaround times. Constructive dialogue with them since before submission of our application, and on an ongoing basis, has been amazingly helpful.

@HRA_Latest have worked hard to ensure the applications for COVID research such as HEAL are reviewed within days (not the weeks that happened pre-pandemic). The team have processed amendments at lightning speed and have supported us & sites in multiple ways during setup.

@DHSCgovuk The Therapeutic Taskforce at DHSC have been amazing. They have worked tirelessly to ensure the medicines for HEAL COVID are available and funded, as well as helping us to tackle any barriers we encounter on the medicines supply front.

@NHSDigital The team at NHS DigiTrials have been fabulous - they have worked with us to ensure we can access the routinely collected clinical data we need so we can reduce the burden on patients & hospitals of participating in a clinical trial. Nothing has been too much trouble.

@NHSBSA have worked with us to put a system in place (not been done before) so that participants in HEAL COVID who are no longer in hospital do not have to pay prescription charges to access their trial medicines. They have gone above & beyond to support this research.

@UKRI_News The therapies tested in HEAL are chosen by the U.K COVID Therapeutics Advisory Panel. The Secretariat for CTAP have been working day & night for months to prepare briefs about potential therapies for RECOVERY, REMAP-CAP, AGILE, PROTECT-CH, PRINCIPLE, AGILE & HEAL-COVID

@livuni_LCTC A small army has been beavering away in Liverpool since Jan, to make HEAL COVID a reality. Part of the NIHR CTU network, they’d never met @mark_toshner or I before we appeared in their email inbox in Dec 2020 - we couldn’t ask for better (or more patient) colleagues!

@NHSuk HEAL COVID is possible because of the commitment of a multitude of clinicians across the NHS committed to delivering research to improve outcomes for their patients. Every day these amazing people are going above & beyond, even when experiencing unprecedented pressure

HEAL-COVID involves researchers from @Cambridge_Uni @UniofOxford @imperialcollege @LivUni @BangorUni @unibirmingham @EdinburghUni @QUBelfast as well as @aparitohealth and @PaulWicks all working collaboratively - am biased, but definitely the best team ever!

Patients & their carers/loved-ones: as well as participating in the trial, from the very beginning, patients have helped shape HEAL COVID - taking time to share what they feel is important to them, helping write documents, asking us challenging questions: Helping in so many ways.

A project as big as @HEAL_COVID takes a cast of 100s, if not 1000s, of people doing their part to make it a reality. It is the very definition of #teamscience, and I could not be more proud to be part of this amazing collaboration.
The End!

PS. On a personal note, I would never have attempted to tackle a project as ambitious as HEAL without having participated in the phenomenal @acmedsci #FLIER programme. As well as helping develop my cross-sector working skills, HEAL exists because of some of my fellow FLIERS. 🙏