Dr Watts is a consultant geriatrician specialising in caring for older people in the community, through the transition into hospital and during the initial hospital stay.
Our dynamic team includes an array of clinical researchers and skilled support staff that look after North Bristol NHS Trust’s broad set of research specialities.
If you want to find out more about the research we do, or have any other related query, simply get in touch with the relevant team.
While some types of clinical research are based on examining and observing people with specific health conditions, certain others require broader comparisons.
In some cases, such as with the vaccine trials for COVID-19 or our ongoing maternity research, an open call will be shared with the public to try and recruit large numbers of participants. These are often for UK-wide studies, aiming to find out what treatments are likely to be helpful for the largest amount of people.
Why take part?
Clinical research is essential for developing better treatments and improving healthcare. Many patients take part in clinical research to help us to find the best ways to:
Provide the best advice and treatments for people.
Share knowledge and learning.
Improve patient care.
Even though you may be interested in taking part, we have to be sure that you fit the narrow criteria for that study and are eligible. This might take into account your current health status, history, age, gender, etc. Eligibility is often quite specific to ensure that the people who take part are not exposed to avoidable risks.
Should you be interested in getting involved in our research in the absence of an open call, you may find yourself well suited to one of our Public Involvement Groups. These are an opportunity to share your experiences, regardless of your health status, to help further the research that takes place at NBT.
To see the full range of research that is currently taking place across the hospital, please visit Our Research pages.
Our new Coagulation Screening and Haematology platforms are live.
Whilst the majority of reference ranges will stay the same, some are quite different. Specific protocols and reference range information is displayed below.
Analyte
Current NBT Adult Reference Range
NEW ADULT REFERENCE RANGE FROM 24/04/2023
APTT
21.0 – 33.0 secs
25-37 secs
Clauss Fibrinogen
1.5 – 4.0 g/L
2-4 g/L
D-Dimer
< 0.50 ug/mL FEU
< 500 ug/L FEU (Age adjusted D-Dimer range)
For Special Coagulation tests (Thrombophilia, Lupus Anticoagulant and Factor Assays), relevant comments will be added to results as appropriate.
Please note that Paediatric ranges have not changed.
Haemoglobinopathy change in platform:
As of as of 18/12/2023, the first line haemoglobinopathy testing analytical method has changed. It is approved for use in sickle cell and thalassaemia (SCT) screening programme and has been verified in-house at NBT
The new reference range will therefore start at 90% (change from 80%). The previous method separated some HbA fractions, which no longer applies to the new method, but this has no impact on the interpretation of results.
HbA2 values are comparable across platforms and reference ranges and interpretation have not changed.
HbF less than 0.3% is not detectable on the new analyser and results less than this will therefore be reported as HbF <0.3%.
There will be no changes to the way that haemoglobin variants and thalassaemias (carriers and disease) are reported.
All the tests, which were previously accredited by UKAS, will be going under an Extension to Scope process. However, please be assured that the quality of our services will remain the same.
