New Research Lead for WWL’s Community Services

Consultant Nurse Dr Christina Heaton has been appointed as Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust’s (WWL) Community Lead for Research.

WWL has long been recognised as a Trust that carries out cutting-edge medical research; whose patients and staff are at the forefront of developing new treatments and methodology which will ultimately result in better patient outcomes.

Over the last 10 years WWL’s Research Team has worked hard to promote research opportunities to patients. As a result, WWL has seen an astounding increase in recruitment to National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) studies and the Trust is now ensuring that patients in the community have the same access to clinical trials.

Christina, the strategic lead for the Community Falls Prevention & Fracture Liaison Service in the Wigan Borough, works closely with colleagues across the local health and social care economy to improve access to the service.

Having been in the nursing profession for 29 years, Christina has extensive experience in a number of specialties including elderly care, neurology, rehabilitation and acute medicine including stroke, falls and osteoporosis in both secondary care and community settings.

And Christina now wants to support her community colleagues in accessing research opportunities and promoting research across the Borough’s community services, drawing on her long-term passion of research within falls prevention, bone health, osteoporosis, the ambulance service and public health.

Christina said: “Clinical trials and research are an everyday part of work done in the NHS, with the aim of finding better ways of looking after patients, helping patients recover more quickly and keeping people healthy to be able to live well longer.

“I am excited to be able to support my WWL colleagues out in the community, in looking at research opportunities and helping to promote the message to patients and staff that we are research-active”.