Description of impact
The 80-page NIHR paper draws on the PANORAMIC study and concludes that primary care research should be at the forefront of future pandemic preparedness. Other recommendations for future pandemic studies Positioning primary care at the frontline of pandemic research is the key theme of this paper. But it also sets out a number of other recommendations for the future.1. Platform studies should be the blueprint for future pandemic research in primary care
PANORAMIC was a platform study. This is a special type of research study that allows the standard of care to change, and allows the trial to evaluate several candidate drugs at the same time. This has the benefit of finding out earlier how effective an intervention is. So changes can be made through emerging evidence while the trial is ongoing.
2. Work should be undertaken to see how recruitment could be enhanced in care homes
PANORAMIC only recruited 0.8% of participants from care homes. Complex contracting requirements and patient capacity proved to be barriers to participation. Putting letters of agreement in place with the next of kin or power of attorney would potentially speed up the process for future studies.
3. Ways of delivering medicine to sick people at home, without the need for a local trial pharmacy, should be further evaluated
Ways of rapidly delivering medicine directly to participants at home should be further evaluated in trials. Lessons learned could then be applied to clinical deployment, if the medicine is found to be effective.
4. Building trust with diverse communities and their leaders so that research is as inclusive as possible
Building relationships with community leaders should be prioritised so that they can help broaden awareness of research in future scenarios. In this study, the team worked with diabetes nurse specialists so that they could promote the study to vulnerable and ethnic minority patients. They also co-created videos with young advocates who have learning disabilities.
Pharmacies promoted the PANORAMIC trial through their outlets and websites via posters. These have a footprint throughout the UK and are invaluable in reaching out to underserved communities.