Every new medicine needs to be tested before it is available for patients to use. Clinical trials are how we test new medicines on patients to see if they are safe and effective. Patients may have to travel up to 2 hours to visit a clinical trial site, which limits the amount of people who can participate.
VCTC, winner of the 2023 Midlands Startup of the Year award, is a Derbyshire based patient-centric clinical trial site, and we do things differently.
VCTC aims to encourage more people to access clinical trials, whilst reducing the burden of taking part. They do this by taking the trial to the participant, using telephone calls, video links, phone apps and home visits where possible. Sometimes an in-person visit is still necessary, but where this is the case, they look for ways to keep this local to the participant, for example working with NHS care providers or opening local pop-up clinics. This enables the trial to recruit participants from anywhere in the UK, rather than just those living close to a trial site.
The VCTC team is available at the end of the phone to support participants, to answer any queries, and to provide reminders about appointments or when questionnaires need to be completed.
VCTC is currently recruiting for a trial in Parkinson’s Disease. Anyone interested in taking part in the study can call 01332 429760.
More information:
Paloma VCTC Information Leaflet