Anne Littley and Sharon Thind – Research nurse perspective: blood disorders

Working with Dr John Grainger, Consultant Paediatric Haematologist, Research Nurses, Anne Littley and Sharon Thind were tasked with coordinating the PETIT 1 and PETIT 2 studies at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (RMCH).  These studies demonstrate for the first time the safety and effectiveness of treatment, eltrombopag, in children with persistent or chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), a rare blood disorder.

Here, Anne and Sharon share their experiences of research nursing.

Haematology research is an exciting area and both Anne and Sharon found themselves being thrown in at the deep end when they started work on the PETIT studies.  As their first experience of research nursing, they both shared common ground.  Although as Anne’s successor, Sharon’s involvement came a little later on in the study’s journey, enabling Anne to move on to a new oncology focused research role.

Prior to PETIT 1, Anne had been working as a clinical oncology nurse at RMCH for a number of years.  “When the research post came up to work at the forefront of advances in treating children with blood disorders, I jumped at the chance,” explained Anne.  “I really had to hit the ground running.  The coordination of a research study is very precise and involves lots of different healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, pharmacy”.

Research nurses roles vary from study to study.  For the PETIT study at RMCH, the nurses supported the ethics paperwork and study approval process, screened patients with ITP to check their suitability for the study, and helped to answer the questions of families considering taking part.  They also monitored children on the study – taking observations and blood samples, plus spinning and shipping them for analysis – and updating the study database and colleagues internally to ensure smooth running of the study.

During Anne’s time on the PETIT 1 study, she was proud to be part of the RMCH team which recruited the first patient globally and recruited the highest number of patients.  “It was hard work”, said Anne.  “What motivated me was knowing that this treatment, which was already being used in adults, was likely to have a very positive impact on the lives of children visiting RMCH and their families.”

“Children metabolise, or process, medicines differently to adults.  We need to research the effects of treatments in children, so that we can identify a suitable dose which will be safe and effective”, adds Sharon.

This is where support from the NIHR / Wellcome Trust Manchester Clinical Research Facility based at RMCH came in.  “Working with the CRF, we were able to take and test a series of blood samples from a patient over the course of a few hours to show how quickly the treatment was being metabolised.” explained Sharon.

Our haematology research portfolio, which includes treatments for haemophilia, continues to grow.  Undoubtedly this is in part due to the support of the NIHR Clinical Research Network, which contributed towards the funding of the research nurse post to make this study possible.

Many of the children we see have life-long conditions, for which there is no cure. Being able to make a difference through trialling less invasive treatments that fit in better with a family’s everyday life is really rewarding.  You also get to know the families really well.

– ANNE and SHARON

Read George’s story and learn more about the results of this study.