Sheffield Children’s wins two regional research awards 

Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to have won two Clinical Research Network (CRN) Yorkshire and Humber 2023 Research Awards! 

This win recognises the Emergency Department Research Team and the 0-19 Research Network, which Sheffield Children’s is a part of.  

The Emergency Department (ED) Research team has won an award for the Research Team of the Year in recognition of the team’s increased engagement and embedding of research into their culture, as well as the staggering increase in recruitment to research studies.  

Professor Shammi Ramlakhan, ED Consultant said: “Through developing a strategy in ED that provided flexible time for research training, we were able to train 75% of senior nurses to become ED based research nurses. This has allowed nurses to work as a team to support research across the week, while avoiding any impact on clinical care delivery.  

“This had a dramatic impact on the number of research studies we could support and run, with recruitment to studies doubling to over 100 in the past year, increasing the opportunities for children and their families to participate in research. 

“This win is testament to the hard work of the entire ED team and serves as a model for how engagement and involvement of all staff groups in research has benefits for our patients, department, and trust beyond research metrics. We recognise and thank the Sheffield Children’s Clinical Research Facility and the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Clinical Research Network (CRN) for their support and belief in the team.” 

The 0-19 Research Network, which Sheffield Children’s are a part of, has also won an award for best contribution in non-NHS setting. This is in recognition of their 0-19 research work within the community and their aim to raise the profile of 0-19 public health research, enabling children and their families to be part of research.   

Louise Wolstenholme, 0-19 Lead for Research at Sheffield Children’s said: “The network has been successful due to the commitment and collaboration between non-NHS and NHS colleagues, university academics and representatives from various 0-19 professional bodies.   

“We facilitate learning about new research findings, reflection on evidence-based practice, sharing of research opportunities and training, role modelling and empowering a positive research culture.  

“Hearing that we had won the category for best research contribution in a non-NHS setting was really exciting. All the project team have been very committed in ensuring the success of the 0-19 Research Network and it feels exceptionally rewarding to be recognised in this way. Success would not have been possible without the valuable contributions from all the organisations involved, it really has been a joint venture. Importantly we hope that this acknowledgement continues to place emphasis on the importance of researching the needs and informing care delivery for children, young people and their families”. 

Gillian Gatenby, Associate Director for Research and Innovation at Sheffield Children’s added: “I feel extremely proud of both the ED Research Team and the 0-19 Research Network Team. It is fantastic to see their hard work and dedication to driving forward research in our Trust and across our region recognised at the Clinical Research Network Yorkshire and the Humber Awards. Both teams have worked incredibly hard and are so deserving of their awards. What they are doing makes such a difference to those patients and families we support, and I want to thank and congratulate both teams on their achievement”.