Clinical Research

Station House Surgery is a Research Active surgery

Station House Surgery has been taking part in clinical research for many years and has an active and dedicated research team.

We are part of a network of local practices taking part in high quality research activities funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)- Research Delivery Network– North West Coast North West | NIHR RDN

Clinical research is a core function of the NHS; it is a major driver of innovation and helps form the best care for patients & enhance knowledge of how to treat conditions and prevent illnesses.

All clinical research undertaken at our surgery is thoroughly checked and approved by ethical committees, to ensure it is safe to perform. 

To learn more about clinical research and opportunities to get involved, visit the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) National Institute for Health Research

A strict code of conduct is at the heart of all our work to make sure data is always confidential More information on the GDPR guidelines that we follow.

We would like to say a huge thank you to all our patients past and present who have taken part in research- you really have made a difference!

Be Part of Research

Be Part of Research

Be Part of Research is a free service which makes it easy to find and take part in vital health and care research across the UK.

Simply choose which health conditions you're interested in. We'll match you to suitable research studies - then you decide if you'd like to take part.

To find out more visit Be Part of Research

 

 

How can you help and take part in research at Station House Surgery❓

We will introduce research studies to eligible patients either by:

  • You may receive an invitation via a text message, email, letter in the post offering you the opportunity to take part in a study (the letter will include some information about the project). 

  • NHS app notification.

  • Your doctor or nurse may also discuss research opportunities during your usual appointment.

  • phone call from our Research team

Research noticeboards are located in our patient waiting areas and display information about a range of current research studies. We also promote research opportunities and projects on the TV screens in our waiting areas, helping patients find out more about studies they may be interested in taking part in. 

Taking part in research is voluntary: you can freely accept or decline, and this will not affect the care that you receive in any way. Even if you agree to take part, you are free to withdraw at any stage should you change your mind, without having to provide justification. Withdrawing from a study will NOT affect the care we provide for you. 

All research projects carried out at Station House Surgery have been thoroughly checked and approved and have obtained all relevant NHS ethical and governance approval sand permissions including any local permissions that are required. This ensures that the rights, safety and dignity and well being of research participants are protected.

You will always receive clear information about what taking part in a research study would involve. You will have the opportunity to ask questions and obtain further details about a study. 

Information:

Station House Surgery is accredited through the RCGP Research Ready®programme, demonstrating our commitment to high-quality primary care research.  For further information about this quality assurance programme please visit Research Ready

Surgery Research Team 🔬

We are a friendly and dedicated research team committed to raising awareness of clinical research across Lancashire & South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB).

We work to increase opportunities for patients to take part in research, helping to improve healthcare today and for future generations. 

Dr David Cowling
Lead Research GP & Principal Investigator

Dr Daniel Jenks
General Practitioner (GP)

Joanna Beldon
Clinical Research Nurse

Lauren Buchan
Clinical Research Nurse & Practice Nurse

Jane Muree
Research Administrator

 

 

Contact the Research team

🔬 Interested in Taking Part in Research?

If you would like to speak to one of our Research Nurses about taking part in a research study, or simply want to find out more about the research opportunities available at our surgery, we'd be delighted to hear from you.

📞 Telephone: 01539 722660

📧 Email: lscicb-mb.researchshs@nhs.net

💬 Our Research Team will be happy to answer your questions and provide information about current and future research studies.

Active studies

AFLOAT study

The purpose of the trial is to find out whether patients who do not take antibiotics for a chest infection recover as quickly (are no worse off) as those who do antibiotics.

Learn more about AFLOAT The AfLOAT study

 

The Heartburn Health Research Programme is a UK-wide study supported by the NHS and Cancer Research UK. It aims to improve the care of people with persistent heartburn, acid reflux, or indigestion by helping researchers better understand these conditions and improve future diagnosis and treatment. 

By taking part, you could help improve future care for people with heartburn, acid reflux, and indigestion.

Learn more about Heartburn Health Join the programme – Heartburn Health

EXTOD Active 

Is sitting down too much affecting your glucose management?

The study aims to see if taking short active breaks can improve glucose management and wellbeing in people with Type 1 diabetes who spend the majority of their day sitting down. 

Learn more about EXTOD Active Lindus Clinical Trials | EXTOD - Active: Study looking at the effect of regular activity on people with Type 1 diabetes

Dementia affects more than 944,000 people in the UK. Research offers hope. Only through research can we understand what causes dementia diseases, develop effective treatments and improve the care of those living with dementia.

But for research to make progress we need more people with and without dementia to take part in vital studies. Help beat dementia by signing up today.

When you sign up to Join Dementia Research, the information you provide is used to match you to studies you may be able to take part in, both online, nationally and in your local area.

Learn more about Join Dementia Research  Join dementia research - register your interest in dementia research : Home

 

GLAD study

The GLAD Study is a project set up to explore risk factors in individuals who have experienced depression and/or anxiety, including those with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, OCD, or related disorders, at any time in their lives. It aims to better understand depression and anxiety in order to find and develop more effective treatments.

We also want to recruit 10,000 individuals without any history of mental disorder to help us explore why some people do and some people don’t become ill. This will help us to better understand the role both our genes and environment play in the development of these illnesses. 

Learn more about GLAD Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression | GLAD Study

 

HPOS study

Do you have Psoriasis?

Please help us to better understand and identify who is more likely to develop psoriatic arthritis and to prevent its long term development. 

Learn more about HPOS HIPPOCRATES Prospective Observational Study (HPOS) · HPOS

 

 

The Digital Family Support Study (DAISY) expores whether a digital parent support programme can help improve behaviour and emotional difficulties in children with a learning disability or developmental delay and support the wellbeing of parent carers. 

Learn more about DAISY DAISY Study | nativve Research

 

Sleep Buddy

Are you a parent or carer of a child aged 6-12 years? Does your child have ADHD and sleep problems?  The University Hospital of Southampton and Southampton Clinical Trials Unit are running a study which aims to test if a new website called Sleep Buddy improves sleep in children aged 6-12 years with an ADHD diagnosis. The study is conducted remotely.

Learn more about Sleep Buddy Welcome | Trial Deck

 

Virology disease surveillance 🦠

Important Information for Our Patients: Respiratory Swab Testing for Disease Surveillance

Our surgery takes part in virology surveillance with the Oxford RCGP Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) and UKHSA virology surveillance scheme.

What is virology surveillance? 

Virology sampling is the act of taking a nose and throat swab from a patient who is visiting the practice about a respiratory infection, such as flu, Covid or RSV. The swab can only be taken if you have had an onset of symptoms within the last 7 days.  This is normally done at the practice by a nurse or GP, or the patient may collect a swab themselves. The swab is then tested at a lab to find out which virus, if any, the patient is suffering from. This also helps us to understand which viruses are circulating in the population. 

Who can join in?

Virology sampling is the act of taking a nose and throat swab from a patient  who is visiting the practice about a respiratory infection, such as flu, Covid or RSV with symptoms such as a cough, sore throat or fever. 

What Happens Next?

If you consent, you will be asked to provide a nasal and throat swab. The sample will then be sent to the laboratory for testing. These results will be used to monitor the spread of respiratory viruses and provide important data for vaccine research.

Will my, or my child’s, taking part in the study be kept confidential?

Virology swabs will be labelled with your, or your child’s, details. However, to protect your privacy, the lab will not share your, or your child’s, identity with the researchers.  Your, or your child’s, NHS number will be converted to a unique identifier. This surveillance will extract routinely collected data held in the surgery for all patients who have consented to take part by providing a nose and throat swab. This data will have the same unique identifier, and will be used to by researchers to link your sample to data such as your flu vaccination history. 

Do I Have to Take Part?

Participation is entirely voluntary. If you choose not to provide a swab, it will not be collected. You are under no obligation to take part.

Learn more about Virology surveillance swabs Information for Patients — ORCHID

Your contribution is invaluable in helping to protect public health. Thank you for your participation!

Our partnership with uMed research platform

Supporting Research Activity

The surgery uses uMedeor Ltd (uMed) as a data processor to support research activity. This includes accessing, and secure hosting of health record data for the purpose of identifying patients that are eligible for specific research projects. uMed also contacts those patients on behalf of the practice via SMS, letter, email or telephone to provide more information about the study, and to collect additional information to assess your eligibility for a certain study.
Your consent will be required before any practice data is shared externally with researchers. uMed applies the national opt-out to practice data it receives so if you wish your data is not processed for research you can do so by visiting Choose if data from your health records is shared for research and planning - NHS

For further information on uMed please visit their website at www.umed.io or email patientsupport@umed.io

EMIS Recruit 💻

Our surgery uses EMIS Recruit to help identify patients who may be eligible to take part in approved health and care research studies.

🔎 How does it work?
EMIS Recruit securely searches patient records within the practice using criteria set by approved research studies (for example, age, medical condition or medication). Only authorised members of the practice research team can view the results.

📩 What happens if I'm eligible?
If you may be suitable for a research study, a member of our research team may contact you to provide information about the study and invite you to take part.

You may receive a text message from EMIS Recruit about clinical research which we are supporting.

You have received this text as you have been highlighted as someone that could be eligible to help out with medical research

You can either accept or decline this offer by following the advice in the text and links provided.

✅ Do I have to take part?
No. Taking part in research is entirely voluntary. If you are invited to participate, you can decide whether or not to take part. Your decision will not affect the care or treatment you receive from the practice.

🔒 How is my information protected?
Your medical records remain secure within the practice. EMIS Recruit is used only to identify potentially eligible patients for ethically approved research studies, and your information is handled in accordance with UK data protection legislation and NHS confidentiality requirements.

Find out more here

If you wish to OPT- out of medical data research in the future, you can find out how to do this via NHS OPT OUT Sharing your health records 

 

CPRD- Clinical Practice Research Datalink

Station House Surgery contributes to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. More information is available here: Page: For patients - Information | CPRD

Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) is a real-world research service supporting retrospective and prospective public health and clinical studies. CPRD research data services are delivered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency with support from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), as part of the Department of Health and Social Care.

CPRD collects anonymised patient data from a network of GP practices across the UK. Primary care data are linked to a range of other health related data to provide a longitudinal, representative UK population health dataset. The data encompass 60 million patients, including 18 million currently registered patients.

For more than 30 years, research using CPRD data and services has informed clinical guidance and best practice, resulting in over 3,000 peer-reviewed publications investigating drug safety, use of medicines, effectiveness of health policy, health care delivery and disease risk factors.

How patient data is used for medical research

Research using CPRD anonymised patient data has provided evidence for drug safety guidance and improved healthcare delivery. More than 3,000 medical and public health research studies have been published using CPRD data.

See examples of how CPRD anonymised data has been used to benefit patient care and public health.

How your information is used for medical research and to measure the quality of care

Station House Surgery shares information from medical records:

  • to support medical research when the law allows us to do so, for example to learn more about why people get ill and what treatments might work best;
  • we will also use your medical records to carry out research within the practice.

 This is important because:

  • the use of information from GP medical records is very useful in developing new treatments and medicines;
  • medical researchers use information from medical records to help answer important questions about illnesses and disease so that improvements can be made to the care and treatment patients receive.

You have the right to object to your identifiable information being used or shared for medical research purposes. You can do this via https://nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/ or Email: enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk or see our Privacy Notice below for more details.

 Station House Surgery Privacy notice- Research 

Page last reviewed: 23 July 2026
Page created: 01 December 2021