Care home manager wins £9,000 funding for future research projects

A North Shields care home has won up to £9,000 in funding to run cutting edge research projects over the next two years.

Clare Leonard, manager at Appleby Care Home has become the first care home manager to win a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Greenshoots award, which is part of the Greenshoots Principal Investigator Scheme.

The funding will enable more training for nurses and provide extra support for new innovations.

Following the award, the home can now fund team members to take part in innovative trials including the installation of air filtration systems in care homes, helping to shape future developments in infection control.

Clare Leonard, manager at Appleby, said: “I’m very excited to work with members of the Appleby team on a wide range of research projects.

“We’re about to do a new respiratory trial called AFRI-c looking at what is best practice to reduce infections such as norovirus, influenza and Covid-19.

“We are particularly keen to recruit nurses and develop their skills and knowledge.

“The extra funding will see an increase in clinical training our colleagues and will put Appleby on the map for its leading research projects.”

The NIHR is the nation's largest funder of health and care research which provides the people, facilities and technology that enable research to thrive.

The NIHR work in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders (including industry and charities), patients and the public to improve the health and wealth of the nation.

The NIHR Clinical Research Network is made up of 15 local clinical research networks that cover the length and breadth of England. These local networks coordinate and support the delivery of research in the NHS and across the wider health and social care environment, in England.

On completion of the two-year programme, successful applicants will receive a certificate confirming their Greenshoots training completion.

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