Buckinghamshire doctor and patient talk about research into COVID-19
More than 30,000 participants have taken part in the trial
An online talk is taking place tonight looking at research into COVID-19 treatments.
Dr Raha West along with Katherine Millbank are inviting you to join them as they discuss their experience with the 'RECOVERY' trial.
The trial with the University of Oxford looks into possible treatments for hospitalised patients with the virus.
More than 30,000 participants have taken part in the trial through 167 NHS hospitals, including 249 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
55-year-old Katherine from Ledburn caught COVID last year and spent two weeks at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in intensive care.
Recruited onto the study
During her stay, Dr West recruited her into the study that's co-funded by the National Institute for Health Research.
A part of the trial Katherine took steroid dexamethasone.
The study found the drug improved survival for hospitalised COVID-19 patients, the first discovery of its kind, which is being used throughout the NHS and worldwide to save lives.
They also found that convalescent plasma, antibiotic azithromycin, hydroxychloroquine and drug combination lopinavir-ritonavir do not reduce deaths.
Mrs Millbank said:
"I took part in the study as I felt it would help the research team to learn about this awful disease and help people who have either had COVID-19 or could get it.
"In my eyes it is a win-win situation, the research team learn from us and we get help from them with medication to survive this virus.
"It would be beneficial for others to take part, as we need to try and help ourselves and the research team with the new strain of this virus which is mutating. We all need to help each other and learn from this experience."
Dr West said:
"This trial looks at various treatments, which may be given with usual hospital care to help patients with COVID-19 get better. The trial has already found that dexamethasone reduces the risk of dying for some patients.
"However, we must continue to find more treatments that can also benefit and rule out some that won't. We need to fight this serious disease and this trial is an important way to do so."
Patients on the trial will be randomly allocated arthritis drug tocilizumab, aspirin, anti-inflammatory drug colchicine, Regeneron's antibody cocktail or standard care, to compare the treatments.
You can find more information on the RECOVERY trial on their website**** and join tonight's talk here.
The webinar is being held through Google Meet tonight - Thursday 25th February at 7pm.