Participating in research

In many ways we are privileged to be able to offer choice about your treatments based on defined the benefits and risks we learnt from clinical studies, thanks to the many patients like yourself who have taken part in clinical trials. Clinical research is not usually about experimentation but defining the best treatment when we are genuinely uncertain. For example, in some circumstances we do not always know if surgery is the best treatment option, or if there are better combinations of treatments with or without surgery. In this setting, we can either carry on blindly doing what we think is best, or actually conduct a study to help find out what is best.

Clinical trials

When you see me, you may be offered the opportunity to take part in a clinical trial. Not all patients will be offered because clinical studies are often very selective as to who can be offered an opportunity to participate (this helps keep the study uniform).

If you are interested in taking part in a trial or if you would like more information you can contact me and I will put you in touch with Mr Paulo De Sousa our research nurse.