COVID-19 – An update from the Trauma MIC team.
Trauma MIC are pleased to announce that we are finally open for business again. As the number of cases of coronavirus continues to reduce, we are working with our funder and host organisation to restart our support for research. Over the past 4 months our Clinical Director has supported the UK Government Ventilator Challenge in developing new medical ventilators to meet the challenge of COVID-19. The Medical Devices Testing and Evaluation Centre (MD-TEC) became a national testing centre supported with equipment from Laerdal, University Hospitals Birmingham and the Cabinet Office. A total 19 designs were evaluated through several iterations leading to 3 receiving MHRA approval. Further details of this involvement will appear on the website in the near future.
The rest of the team has supported the Ventilator Challenge and other COVID-19 related research as required by the Trust. We are now engaging with our funder and the host Trust to restart our research support activities. We are working within the National Institute for Health Research Restart initiative to identify and resolve any issues with this process. Unfortunately we are not yet back to business as usual due to Trust restrictions that allow only essential visitors on site. We are scheduling meetings by video or teleconference to provide advice on regulations, funding opportunities and to support grant applications and research projects. The MD-TEC usability suite is currently off limits to non-Trust personnel and we are working on systems to be able to undertake usability studies remotely. This is testing the creative powers of the team and we aim to rise to the challenge!
Please note that there may be delays in responding but we appreciate your patience and will endeavour to contact you as soon as we are able.
Contact the Trauma MIC team directly via email: TraumaMIC@uhb.nhs.uk
