The Post-Hospitalisation COVID-19 Study (PHOSP-COVID) study has been awarded £8.4million jointly by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). This study is one of a number of COVID-19 studies that have been given urgent public health research status by the Department of Health and Social Care.
Professor Ling-Pei Ho from the MRC Human Immunology Unit is part of the national consortium group of leading researchers and clinicians from across the UK to assess the impact of COVID-19 on patients’ health and their recovery. She will be co-leading on the immunology working group of lung fibrosis after COVID-19.
Around 10,000 patients are expected to take part in the study led by the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre – a partnership of the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, making it one of the largest comprehensive studies in the world to understand and improve the health of survivors after hospitalisation from COVID-19.
Symptoms of COVID-19 have varied among those who have tested positive: some have displayed no symptoms, while others have developed severe pneumonia and sadly even lost their lives. For those who were hospitalised and have since been discharged, it is not yet clear what the medical, psychological and rehabilitation needs for this group of patients will be to enable them to make as full a recovery as possible.
Patients on the study will be assessed using techniques such as advanced imaging, data collection and analysis of blood and lung samples, creating a comprehensive picture of the impact COVID-19 has had on longer term health outcomes across the UK.
Professor Ling-Pei Ho said: ”This is a fantastic opportunity to work together across the country to integrate clinical care and scientific research, and with the extensive expertise in the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. Oxford will apply its world-class science to a huge clinical need and translate this to a greater mechanistic understanding of disease”.
The PHOSP-COVID team will then develop trials of new strategies for clinical care, including personalised treatments for groups of patients based on the particular disease characteristics they show as a result of having COVID-19 to improve their long term health.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “As we continue our fight against this global pandemic, we are learning more and more about the impact the disease can have not only on immediate health but longer-term physical and mental health too. This world-leading study is another fantastic contribution from the UK's world-leading life sciences and research sector. It will also help to ensure future treatment can be tailored as much as possible to the person.”
Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said: “As well as the immediate health impacts of the virus it is also important to look at the longer term impacts on health, which may be significant. We have rightly focused on mortality, and what the UK can do straight away to protect lives but we should also look at how COVID-19 impacts on the health of people after they have recovered from the immediate disease. This UKRI and NIHR funded study is one of the first steps in doing this.”
To follow the study as it develops, visit www.phosp.org.