Pioneering Salford Lung Study achieves world first

24 May 2016

Researchers and health professionals create world’s first digitally enhanced trial to include patients in an everyday clinical practice setting

University academics and healthcare professionals from seven organisations across Greater Manchester have collaborated to deliver the initial results of the Salford Lung Study (SLS).

The study involved over 2,800 consenting patients, supported by 80 GP practices and 130 pharmacies in Salford and the surrounding Greater Manchester area.

This ground-breaking study, sponsored by GSK, examined the safety and effectiveness of a new treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This was delivered in partnership with The University of Manchester, NorthWest EHealth (NWEH), Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, CK Aspire, Salford CCG, University Hospital of South Manchester, South Manchester CCG and NIHR Clinical Research Network: Greater Manchester.

It is the world’s first digitally enhanced Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) to include a broad and inclusive population of patients in an everyday clinical practice setting, embracing a novel approach to clinical trial design. This provides researchers with a breadth of clinical data that demonstrates the healthcare interactions of the everyday lives of patients and the way they use their medicines.

Professor Iain Buchan, Professor of Public Health Informatics, said “The Salford Lung Study broke the mould of clinical trials by harnessing an approach to healthcare data and computing that focuses on populations not hospitals or other organisations. It operates using NHS data to offer the trial resources to the right patients, at the right time in the right way.”

Professor Martin Gibson, NorthWest EHealth. Chief Executive, said: “This is not about Big Data - this is about understanding the way patients interact with medications in their everyday lives. Our unique technology supports understanding of NHS data to bring the right drugs to market quicker, whilst providing timely and accurate information on safety and cost for payers and patients alike.”