Two senior nurses at Heartlands Hospital, Liz Lees-Deutsch and Teresa Melody, have been awarded places on a new national programme aiming to develop the number of NHS staff involved in research.

The 70@70 NIHR Senior Nurse and Midwife Research Leader Programme will begin with a launch event in London on 9 May, which will focus on setting priorities and scoping potential ideas to encourage staff and patient involvement in research at a national, regional and Trust level.

The Programme will provide financial support allowing Teresa and Liz to dedicate two days a week, for three years, raising awareness among staff across University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) of the importance and benefits of research. Liz, Consultant Nurse in Acute <edicine, who has a PhD and combines clinical practice with ongoing research work, is looking forward to helping other nurses’ move into research.

“I’m hoping the 70@70 programme will really help boost the capacity and capability of nurses across Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull Hospitals,” said Liz.

“I’m keen to do a skills gap analysis to consider why more nurses don’t move into research, and develop a series of workshops to try and combat some of these issues.

“Over the next three years, I’m looking forward to developing skills and help our nurses translate their fantastic ideas into practice, in the process helping to build UHB’s capacity to deliver research.

“Linking in with colleagues across the West Midlands and nationally will also help develop learning sets, which will really help with the development and expansion of a research rich environment.

“I’d also like to thank Chief Nurse Lisa Stalley-Green, Deputy Chief Nurse Davina Thomas, and Professor of Nursing Annie Topping, for their support throughout the application process.”

 Teresa, Research Manager for Critical Care, is part of the critical care research group based across the HGS sites, and is delighted her application was successful.

“As one of seven NHS staff in the West Midlands on the Fellowship Programme, it’s a real honour and privilege to represent UHB at a national level,” said Teresa.

“My critical care colleagues, particularly Professor Gavin Perkins and Professor Fang Smith, have been extremely supportive.  I I’m looking forwards to engaging with our nursing and midwifery colleagues across all UHB sites.

“We know that nurses and midwives have a wealth of knowledge, and are best-placed to deliver the next stages of research, which will hopefully lead to better outcomes overall for our patients.

“The Fellowship will enable me to share my extensive knowledge and experience across all aspects of research delivery.

In 2017-18, UHB topped the NIHR league table for research recruitment in the West Midlands, with over 14,000 patients taking part in almost 500 studies, across all UHB hospital sites

Find out more about the NIHR 70@70 programme on their website at the link below.