Rochdale Care Organisation has won a Greater Manchester Health and Care Research award for pioneering work undertaken to engage with underserved community groups.
Mohammed Tariq, BAME Staff Network Lead; and Dr Stuart Stewart, GP and Research Ambassador, won the ‘Best Public Engagement’ award for their community engagement work with South Asian communities in Rochdale.
And Peterloo Medical Centre in Middleton was also a winner in the ‘Primary Care or Community Research Contribution’ category.
In March, Tariq and Stuart teamed up with a group of Northern Care Alliance doctors and headed out to Madina Masjid Mosque to provide important community education about how to fast safely during Ramadan, whilst bringing research opportunities directly into a community that could benefit the most.
They discussed a range of topics including renal disease, diabetes, and genomic medicine, and also used the opportunity to talk about how participation in research improves health, and how to get involved.
Tariq said: “It’s great to give something back to the community and explore ways we can work together to improve health for all.”
Stuart said: “I am so thrilled that we have received this award and recognition of our efforts to work closely with our communities. Whilst this engagement work was with South Asian communities, the learnings from this will be applicable to all of our future engagement work. We have a lot more we want to achieve. Watch this space.”
Since then, they have kept up the hard work through recruiting to the Genes and Health study on site in the hospital and promoting the study across social media.
The study could help improve cardiovascular health outcomes for South Asian people, and importantly increases opportunities for people to get involved in ‘on the spot’ research.
Peterloo Medical Centre in Middleton was recognised for the amount and quality of research work it has carried out since November 2019.
In total the practice has been involved in 18 different research studies, including some very large recruitment studies, technology studies, and workforce/primary care studies.
The practice’s participation in research is not only benefitting patients, but also helping the local population to understand how vitally important research is for the NHS.
Peterloo’s patients are so keen to participate in new studies they regularly contact the surgery to see how and when they can get involved.
Pictured - Mohammed Tariq, BAME Staff Network Lead (left), Co-clinical Director of the NIHR Greater Manchester Clinical Research Network – Professor Martin Gibson (right)