Patients from the Welshpool area battling Covid-19 at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital are thought to have taken part in the trial of a drug which has been shown to reduce deaths among patients with severe respiratory complications caused by the virus.
The Research & Innovation and Critical Care teams at SaTH, which runs the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, were involved in the clinical trial, run by Oxford University, of the steroid dexamethasone.
Patients being treated in the Intensive Therapy Units (ITU) and on wards were recruited into the trial. Those worst impacted by Covid-19 from the Welshpool area are treated in Shrewsbury due to the lack of a major hospital in the whole of Powys.
The drug has been shown to cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators. For those on oxygen, it cut deaths by a fifth. This has been described as a “major breakthrough” in the treatment of Covid-19.
Sister Helen Moore (pictured), Clinical Trials Manager and SaTH’s Lead Research Nurse, said: “This is such great news and we are delighted to have played a part in it by recruiting patients to this study and by being able to offer our patients the opportunity to take part.
“SaTH has been successfully recruiting into clinical studies looking at COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Over the last few weeks, more than 1,050 patients have been recruited into various studies, one of which is the RECOVERY Trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy) led by the University of Oxford, which looked at the use of dexamethasone.”