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Data and analytics / ARC develops a predictive model aimed at creating an early warning system for COVID-19 infections
ARC Wessex has been working on the Predicting Patient Deterioration Risks in COMMunities (PPDRCOMM) project, for use in residential settings such as care homes. The predictive tool has been developed in conjunction with COVID Oximetry @home (CO@h). An early evaluation of the service found that it reduced the length of hospital stay by an average of 6.3 days and that mortality rates also dropped significantly.
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Data and analytics / Data resources developed to track and support local services
ARC North West Coast developed the Place-based Longitudinal Data Resource (PLDR). The PLDR is a web-based resource that brings together datasets which track changes in the determinants of health and health outcomes, in specific places over time. The resource showed that people in certain areas of the North West, West Midlands and North East were particularly vulnerable to severe COVID-19. PLDR provided critical support to help shield vulnerable groups and assist in the targeting of resources and control measures.
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Children and young people / Co-SPACE: Providing valuable support for children and young people throughout the pandemic
ARC Oxford and Thames Valley have led the project COVID-19: Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics (Co-SPACE), tracking the mental health and wellbeing of young people during the pandemic. Throughout the project, data snapshots informed resources and support for families, through local policy and practice. The UKRI Emerging Minds Research Network regularly disseminates findings across the UK.
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Care homes / ARC supports care home staff and helps protect residents during the pandemic
ARC East of England provides COVID-19 focused support for care homes, in its role as national care home network lead. When COVID-19 started to spread in care homes ARC EoE researchers, along with colleagues from ARC Kent, Surrey and Sussex, listened to the care homes who were asking for support. They produced ‘Top Tips For Tricky Times’. This resource is being used both nationally and internationally. Feedback from care home staff has confirmed it’s especially useful for staff working with people living with dementia.
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Equality and diversity / Group led by ARC researches impact of COVID on health inequalities
Following the first wave of the pandemic, ARC North East and North Cumbria led work to analyse and highlight the unequal impacts of COVID-19, and the underlying health inequalities that helped to fuel this. This led to further work exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, mental health and children’s wellbeing in the north of England. The work has achieved widespread national media coverage and has been referenced extensively by health leads and policymakers.
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General practice / ARC carries out vital research into GP practices during the pandemic
ARC West collaborated on the Rapid COVID-19 intelligence to improve primary care response (RAPCI) project which investigated how GP practices responded to the changes in demand caused by the pandemic. This included the move to online and telephone consultations and their impact on patient care. Researchers published three journal papers and five rapid reports. Findings were included in reports to the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), the Royal College of General Practitioners and NHS England. Findings were also presented to the DHSC to inform their COVID-19 response.
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Mental health / NHS CHECK: National project on the pandemic’s impact on frontline NHS staff and developing support for them
In collaboration with Kings College London, ARC North Thames is the lead on NHS CHECK, a national cross-ARC study investigating the impact of COVID-19 on staff in 18 NHS trusts across England. Early findings from the online surveys indicated a lack of access to personal protective equipment (PPE) was associated with worse mental health outcomes for all types of staff. This was fed back to participating trusts, who were able to address this and increase provision of PPE. The team provided regular briefings of key findings to trusts. This meant trusts could target resources most effectively. Findings are informing policy.
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Dementia / IDEAL: Evidence-based guidance on how those living with dementia can stay well during the pandemic
The Improving the Experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life (IDEAL) project, is the largest study of living well with dementia in Great Britain. IDEAL is led by ARC South West Peninsula’s Dementia Theme Lead Professor Linda Clare. Guidance leaflets were distributed online through a network of organisations and formed part of the Alzheimer’s Society support package. The were also distributed nationally through the ARC and AHSN networks. Initially prepared in English and Welsh, the leaflets were translated into 10 more languages by the Race Equality Foundation. The Living with Dementia toolkit, originally envisaged as a source of support during the pandemic, has evolved into a long-lasting resource.
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End of life care / Rapid research to understand the response of palliative and end of life care services to COVID-19
In April 2020, a team of palliative and end of life care researchers at ARC South London launched a collaborative national project, providing a rapid review of the palliative care response to the pandemic (CovPall). The team’s rapid research provided the first evidence of palliative care needs and response to treatment among people dying with COVID-19, and recommendations for palliative care and hospice services.
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Care leavers / Beyond Lockdown: Guidance to support care leavers during the pandemic and beyond
ARC Kent, Surrey and Sussex conducted a national survey of care leavers, to gather data on the impact of the pandemic and their support needs going forward. Workshops helped develop key messages and priorities. This work has opened new avenues of research, building on the positive working relations with care leavers and voluntary sector organisations.
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Workforce planning / ARC Director leads development of Risk Reduction Framework for NHS and social care staff
ARC East Midlands' Director, Professor Kamlesh Khunti, led an expert working group that developed a Risk Reduction Framework for NHS staff at risk of greater levels of severity from COVID-19 infection. The framework was developed at the request of NHS England and was used in conjunction with NHS employers guidance as an aid to decision making. It is estimated that over 70% of NHS staff have been assessed using the framework. This has helped NHS organisations manage their staff resources in a time of acute pressure.
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Collaborations / ARC sets up local collaboration group to coordinate research support
ARC Yorkshire and Humber set up the Bradford COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Group (C-SAG). It included acute trusts, the local clinical commissioning group, the local authority and four regional higher education institutions. This work featured on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Look North and was included in written evidence submissions to House of Commons and House of Lords committees and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.
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Vaccine programme / Vaccination rates amongst pregnant women and children in deprived ethnic minority communities
An ARC Northwest London co-produced project aimed to help vaccine services improve so more pregnant women and children could get vaccinated, including against COVID. Collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and UK HSA has led to several peer reviewed papers. They found that during the pandemic pregnant women from poorer neighbourhoods who also came from ethnic minority groups were more likely to have felt unsafe accessing vaccines. The ARC is now collaborating with the local Integrated Care System to develop a strategy to better support under-served communities.
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Vaccine programme / ARC researches equity of UK vaccine strategy
ARC Greater Manchester studied the equitability of the UK’s COVID-19 vaccination 2020-21 strategy rollout in the Greater Manchester area and published the results in PLOS Medicine. They found that ethnic inequalities in vaccine uptake were highest amongst people with the greatest risk of severe COVID-19, namely older and more clinically vulnerable people, and those living in the most income-deprived areas. Understanding potential barriers to uptake is an important step in implementation of strategies that reduce inequalities.
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Long COVID / ARC examines long COVID in £2.2m research project funded by NIHR and UK Research
ARC West Midlands plays a leading role in a major research project on how to improve understanding of long COVID. The research team, with significant input from patient partners, developed the Symptom Burden Questionnaire™ for long COVID (SBQ™), a patient-reported outcome measure that captures the presence and severity of symptoms of long COVID. Licensed for use in over 50 countries worldwide, SBQ™ appears on the NIH Disaster Research Response Portal and is referenced by the World Health Organization.
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