Covid-19: Lincs hospital staff given chance to take part in ground-breaking trials

• Alun  Roebuck Associate Chief Nurse, ULHT

NHS staff in Lincolnshire will be amongst the first in the country given the chance to take part in ground-breaking Coronavirus trials

Around 250 staff will be enlisted onto the research project which has been launched by Public Health England. The SIREN trial, will track staff using blood and throat swabs taken over an 18-month period.

Immunity is one of the areas researchers will focus on to establish if people who have had the virus develop antibodies, how long they last and if they can contract the virus again. There is currently no firm evidence to suggest that having the antibodies means the carrier is immune to COVID-19 or that they can no longer transmit the virus to others. 

Patients who have been treated in Lincolnshire's hospitals have already been enrolling onto a range of COVid-19 research studies. 

Associate Chief Nurse, Alun Roebuck, is the Trust’s Principal Investigator for the trial said he believes this is the 'biggest and most important research project for our generation.'