UHP consultant receives award from the Intensive Care Society
Dr Nikitas Nikitas, a Consultant from University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) has been recognised for his contribution to intensive care clinical research.
The Intensive Care Society (ICS) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) recently announced the winners of the Joint Intensive Care and NIHR Award 2023. There were two winners, which included Nikitas Nikitas, a Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at UHP alongside Brendan Sloan, a Consultant in Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
The award celebrates the contributions of NHS employees to intensive care clinical research. Applicants have to show how they have contributed to the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) portfolio, with a focus on patient engagement and study participation numbers.
Dr Bronwen Connolly, NIHR Senior Lecturer in Critical Care, Queen’s University Belfast, said that the awardees had to “exemplify the leadership, teamwork, and motivation, that is required to enable teams to positively engage with studies, ensure their successful completion, and ultimately provide findings which will improve patient care and outcomes.”
A grant has been given as part of the award which will be used for the educational and administrative support of our Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Research Nurses' team. Speaking about the achievement, Nikitas said: “I am delighted to have received this year's ICS and NIHR clinical research award.
“It is with my deepest gratitude for our joint work and their continuous support, advice, and trust, that I would like to dedicate this award to all members of our ICU Research team and of our Research and Development team, with whom I have been working together, for the last 3 years. This award supports our team's efforts to continue developing our ICU clinical research delivery services and expanding our research portfolio, for the benefit of our patients."
Dr Gary Minto, Associate Medical Director for Research and Development at UHP, said: “This award is testimony to the success of our Intensive Care Unit’s (ICU) approach to embed research within everyday critical care. It is now routine for ICU staff to ask ’do we have a clinical trial running which could benefit my patient?’ and take ownership for answering this question. In a very short period, we have grown from having a modest research footprint into being one of the most research active ICUs in the country.”
