Benenden Health supports pioneering research into Covid-19 at Royal Brompton Hospital

26th August 2020 by Charlotte Walker

Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity has secured a £50k grant from not-for-profit healthcare provider, Benenden Health, for a Covid-19 research analyst at Royal Brompton Hospital.

This dedicated post will research and examine information, data and other findings which have emerged so far to discover more about this virus. The research will be particularly valuable as hospitals all over the UK prepare for the challenges of a potential second Covid-19 wave alongside winter flu.

Gill Raikes, Chief Executive of Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity, said: “We are very pleased to announce this grant from Benenden Health and the dedicated research post it will fund. This research into Covid-19 is vitally important as we approach the winter months and Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals are playing a key role in finding out much more about this horrible disease. We are very grateful to Benenden Health for this timely support.”

Dr Brij Patel is leading the Covid-19 research programme at Royal Brompton. He joined the Charity in thanking Benenden Health for this practical, timely and generous support for the programme. “The grant from Benenden Health will directly increase the range and depth of all the research at Royal Brompton including analysing the different strains of Coronavirus.”

The research post

The new post will extend the capacity of the Clinical Informatics team, to be able to cover COVID and ICU/ITU related research projects. The data being analysed is of ITU patients, showing severity of illness, length of stay, additional devices, increased bed capacity. This forms part of the winter surge planning.

The analyst will lead on a research programme that will look at data from all over the UK. This post will not only contribute to ongoing Covid-19 research, but it will transform the process of collecting data and communicating results to other clinical staff across the UK and beyond.

It is anticipated this work will result in presentations to scientific meetings at national and international level, as well as provide data to be published in high impact peer reviewed scientific journals.

Bob Andrews, Chief Executive Officer at Benenden Health, said: “Benenden Health has brought people together to improve the nation’s health for more than a hundred years - from supporting postal workers suffering from Tuberculosis in 1905 to providing more than 800,000 members with affordable healthcare to improve the quality of their lives today.

“The nation now faces a new medical challenge and we are committed to playing our part in overcoming it and helping those who are affected by it both today and in the future. The new research analyst will enable the Royal Brompton Hospital to contribute valuable data and information to the national and global effort against Covid-19.”