From time to time we are contacted by consultants working on research for the NHS who require patient involvement and feedback for the studies they are conducting.
We have been consultant by Dr Priyadharshanan Ariyaratnam BM BSc (Hons) MRCs MD NIHR Clinical Lecturer and ST4 in Cardiothoracic Surgery, Yorkshire Deanery.
“I am an NIHR Clinical Lecturer at HYMS and I work as a registrar in cardiothoracic surgery in the Yorkshire Deanery (currently at Leeds). Professor Loubani (Consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Castle Hill) and I would like to start a clinical trial looking at the effect of simple respiratory exercises at home a few weeks before lung cancer surgery on the post-operative outcomes following lung cancer surgery. The project will be applied through the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). We wanted to get as much Patient Involvement in the design of the project as possible to find out which outcomes are most important to patients. For example: early discharge, quality of life, breathlessness, pain, mobility etc.”
The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), is a UK government body that receives Department of Health (DH) funding to direct and coordinate translational research programmes for the benefit of National Health Service (England) patients in England.
By working in co-ordination with researchers of the NHS we can directly improve how lung cancer is treated and improve the outcome for patients.
They are essentially applying for a grant that the NIHR has proposed. This is to look at pre-operative inspiratory muscle training (IMT) in patients before surgery to see if it helps prevent complications following surgery. The grant is called "16/140 - Preoperative Inspiratory Muscle Training" and can be found on the NIHR website nets.nihr.ac.uk/funding/hta...
The deadline to show interest is the 9/2/17.
IMT involves the patient taking a device home from outpatient clinic before the operation which is a bit like an inhaler. The patient sucks on the inhaler 30 times each day for two weeks and it is meant to strengthen the breathing muscles before surgery. The device is licensed for use in the NHS (Powerbreathe) for COPD patients but it is yet to be tested for use in pre-operative patients.
Our pre-operative patients would be lung cancer patients. Hence we are looking for cancer surgical patients for their point of view in designing this study.
The questions they would like to ask are
(1) What information about any device would you like to have beforehand. For example: Is it safe, is it easy to use, has it been tested before, who can I contact to find further information?
(2) For those who have undergone surgery:
(a) How long before surgery would you have liked to meet the surgeon: was the pre-operative timing appropriate or would you have liked a longer interval to prepare for surgery
(b) Was the pre-operative advice from surgeons, physicians and nurses enough to prepare you for lung cancer surgery
(c) What outcomes are most important to you after surgery: eg pain, adequate cancer clearance, scars, infections, length of stay in hospital, quality of life?
(d) Was the follow-up adequate after surgery?
By understanding which outcomes are most important for patients, we can design the study to look to see if IMT changes any of these outcomes.
If you would like to be involved in this study, please contact Dr Priyad Ariyaratnam:
priyadariyaratnam@yahoo.co.uk
07814118367
If you have any questions feel free to get in touch.
Many thanks
David
(Involvement Officer)
Stage 2b adenocarcinoma looking for support and advice!
Help about proposed treatment 
