Allied Health Professional colleague in West of England recognised for contributions to research

Kate Coates, Lead Research Allied Health Professional for the CoMiTED Trial, North Bristol NHS Trust, has been awarded the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Category B Award 2023 by The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) and the NIHR CRN. 

The RCEM-NIHR CRN Category B Award recognises Early Career Researchers and those new to research from all nursing and allied health professional groups who show a significant contribution to recruitment into NIHR portfolio studies.The award specifically recognises contribution to: 

• Increased research recruitment and/or developed new pathways to recruitment
• The successful delivery of NIHR portfolio studies
• Engagement with patients to inform them of new opportunities to participate in NIHR CRN clinical research

Research journey

Following the announcement of her award, we talked with Kate Coates to find out more about her career in research.

“I’m a physio by background, and have always been interested in research with my preferred clinical area being trauma.” After working with a trauma research team juggling a portfolio of recruitment to various studies, Kate applied for her role as Lead Research Allied Health Professional for the CoMiTED Trial at North Bristol NHS Trust. “My role is to try and optimise recruitment and retention and be a support for the clinical and research delivery teams working at each local site.” 

Supporting the staff with their understanding

With this trial being an emergency department trauma trial, there are intricacies that mean that Kate’s role is particularly valued.  There is not much time in Emergency Departments to recruit so it has been helpful for local staff to have someone from the central team with a clinical focus to answer queries in a timely manner. “One of the most difficult things is understanding the eligibility criteria. Some of the main things I do are training sessions, particularly with the delivery teams. I have run bespoke sessions with them to explore their understanding of the decision making around what might make the patient eligible and to help them understand more about the clinical focussed data collection points, for example Estimated Injury Severity Score. This means that our data coming in is as accurate as possible.”

Helping sites with recruitment

Kate liaises closely with the Principal Investigators (PI) and uses her central view to provide feedback on “anything that I spot that might be causing an issue for them. I look at our screening data to identify trends and to pick up any potential barriers within an individual site.”

Associate Principal Investigator (API) Scheme

As well as running regular teleconferences for delivery teams and PIs, Kate also runs a WhatsApp group for the Associate PI Scheme for the CoMiTED trial, “which has the highest number of APIs out of all the open trials in the Trauma and Emergency Care network.” Kate provides support to APIs at the start of their research career journey and provides prompts for conversations around topics such as consent, patient preference and clinical features. Kate’s hope is that this scheme will bridge the gap between clinical expertise and research knowledge, which can prove to be a challenge in emergency care research.

Championing Allied Health Professionals in research

Kate’s role has been really well received and with her training sessions receiving all positive feedback so far. It is no wonder then, that she has been recognised with this award. 

“My main motivation for applying for the award was to promote Allied Health Professionals working in research. Normally these roles are nurse led. I hope that by being in this national role as a physio, I can showcase that other professions can bring just as valuable skills and experience to the research delivery side of things.”

Could emergency care research be for you?

Kate shared with us a couple of reasons to consider getting involved in research.

“We all should be practising evidence based care and that can only come through well delivered research. It is a really exciting area to work in, knowing that you’re contributing to that evidence base and ensuring that the care we’re giving is cost effective and beneficial for patients.”

“You see such a variety in emergency care and it’s so early in the patient journey so there is huge diversity and huge amount of opportunity.”

“Emergency medicine is slightly more in its infancy than other specialties. There is a really nice network of support, I think because it is a bit smaller, which makes a really nice environment for collaboration and networking.”

“There are loads of great resources, for example the NIHR Emergency Care Incubator and loads of online resources to help you learn more about a career in research, so I would certainly recommend it!”

What next for Kate?

As Kate continues to do a fantastic job in her role, she is also starting to work on a project on AHP engagement in research in emergency medicine. We wish her all the best and look forward to seeing what comes from that exciting project. 

You can follow Kate @KCoatesBristol to keep up to date with the project!

Recognising excellence in research

Ifan Jones, Chief Operating Officer of the NIHR Clinical Research Network West of England (CRN WE) said,

“It is so great to see Kate’s hard work recognised. Her collaborative and proactive working style is an example of how we work here at the CRN. Kate is a role model for AHPs and we share in her hope that this will inspire more AHPs to get involved in research. Congratulations to Kate!”

Professor Matthew Costa, NIHR CRN Specialty Cluster Lead said,

“The COVID pandemic showed everyone just how important clinical research is to the UK. Emergency Care research took centre stage and, given the ongoing difficulties in looking after patients with emergency medical problems across the NHS, the focus upon clinical research in the pre-hospital and emergency departments continues. The RCEM awards confirm that Emergency Medicine has a strong and growing community of clinical researchers and are well-placed to lead research that will make a real difference to clinical practice.”

Professor Jason Smith, Chair of the RCEM Research Committee said,

“These awards are a great opportunity to showcase excellent research practice while giving researchers the chance to bid for small amounts of funding to get further work underway. Emergency care has historically been an under-resourced topic in research, but this and other initiatives will hopefully increase the profile of this important area. My congratulations to those who have been successful.”