ST MARY'S Hospital research nurses have been recognised for their work supporting the national bowel screening programme with an award for collaborative working.

Despite being the smallest team in the Wessex region, the nurses managed to recruit the second highest number of patients to a national study funded by NHS England.

The team worked together, and with staff across the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, to recruit patients referred by their GP to a surgical clinic at St Mary’s for further investigations.

Joy Wilkins, clinical research nurse, said: "The support from our colleagues has been fantastic, especially from our cancer services team who have worked closely with us on this study to assist in recruiting as many people as possible.

"We couldn’t have done it alone, and the award for collaborative working truly is an NHS team effort."

The NICE FIT study is the largest study in England investigating whether FIT (the faecal immunochemical test) can be used to help rule out bowel cancer and avoid a colonoscopy.

It aims to test a minimum of 5,500 patients in London, and further patients across the UK, to create a robust evidence base that patients, GPs and hospital doctors can use with confidence.

"This research could lead to fewer people having to have invasive tests, such as colonoscopies, so we are so grateful to all our patients that agreed to take part and trial the kit and be part of this important national research," said Joy.

The team are now participating in a follow-up study, looking into how patient-friendly the kits are to use.

The team are also conducting research studies into breast screening, lung cancer, dementia, parkinson’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease and long term hodgkins lymphoma.