New life changing research opportunities for patients in west Wales

A brand-new clinical research centre has opened at Carmarthen’s Glangwili Hospital, providing access to new research opportunities to patients in west Wales.

This new dedicated space will reduce the pressures on other departments within the hospital and makes Carmarthenshire a more attractive site to conduct potentially life-changing research. This centre will offer patients the opportunity to participate in clinical trials that offer earlier access to the very latest treatments and therapies.

The £250,000 investment has seen the development of bespoke clinical rooms to treat and monitor patients and a multifunctional lab space with state-of-the-art facilities to enable sample processing independently from other busy departments.

Opening the research centre was Hywel Dda University Health Board’s Chief Executive Officer, Steve Moore, and Chair, Maria Battle, who were joined by the research team.

Leighton Phillips, Director of Research and Innovation at Hywel Dda University Health Board, said: “During the past two years our research efforts have rightly focused on the urgent public health studies developing treatments and the impact of COVID-19. This new clinical research centre will allow us to continue with our research into key areas such as orthopaedics, oncology and fertility.

“We’re so grateful for the support and investment from Health and Care Research Wales and the health board to develop and future-proof research in Wales and the team has gone above and beyond in supporting our growth in this area.

“Research is another element of a patients care and for some people we see them every month for 10 years so to have a new space to conduct that research is really important as this research could improve or even save not only their lives but for those in the future.”

Director of Support and Delivery Centre at Health and Care Research Wales, Dr Nicola Williams said: “We have several clinical research centres across Wales which means we are able to provide as many opportunities as possible for Welsh people to participate in research in their local area. Having dedicated space for people taking part in research means we can offer more research opportunities to more people, without impacting on other clinical services.”