Heart Surgery PSP takes its next step to translate priorities into clinical trials

When members of the Heart Surgery JLA PSP published the Top 10 in October 2019, they had already spent time planning a one-day follow-up workshop bringing together patients, carers, clinicians and researchers to form working groups to discuss each of the priority areas in detail. Their aim was to work closely with members of the Heart Surgery community to translate the priority areas into applications for high-quality clinical trials.

The Covid-19 pandemic meant a change of format from a one-day face-to-face workshop to a series of webinars using an IT platform supported by the British Heart Foundation Clinical Research Collaborative (BHF CRC), but work continues at pace.

Nine separate working groups, now called Clinical Study Groups, have been established, with each focusing on a priority area identified in heart surgery. Each Clinical Study Group will hold a series of webinars, and is led in equal partnership, by patients, clinicians, and health service researchers.

The inaugural webinars consisted of the lead moderators for each work stream. Future webinars will include wider participation to discuss the clinical questions in depth. So far, all Clinical Study Groups have started the process of defining the areas of uncertainty, identifying the knowledge gaps, and establishing key themes to focus on.

Several groups have already identified specific research questions and potential trial proposals. Over 440 participants have registered for one or more of the Clinical Study Groups.

You may have seen screenshots on Twitter @HeartSurgeryPSP of the inaugural moderator meetings.

On the JLA website, as well as the final PSP report published by the team, you can also read their report Cohort Multiple Randomised Trials – A plan to address the priorities identified by the JLA PSP in Adult Cardiac Surgery.

“This report describes an approach to cardiac surgery research that will address the changing environment, capitalise on our unique research infrastructure, and result in the best care for our patients... we hope it will form the basis for a conversation that will enable all stakeholders to contribute to the process, and ensure that we can translate our research priorities into a research programme that will lead to better care for patients.”  

Professor Gavin Murphy, BHF Chair of Cardiac Surgery and JLA PSP Lead

An article by the team was recently published in BMJ Open.

With thanks to Florence Lai for updating the JLA on behalf of the Heart Surgery PSP.