Strategising for the future

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Darling Downs Health professionals are planning for the future with the development of a five-year Research Strategy underway.

Executive Director Transformation, Analytics and Governance Dr Lynnette Knowles said the strategy will explore how the organisation sets up and supports clinical trials, the expansion of tele-trials, and how to best strengthen research across the region.

“We already punch above our weight when it comes to research, we’re incredibly strong and have really great Principal Investigators who are already taking a good lead.

“The next five years is about maintaining and building support in the research space, an advantage of Darling Downs Health is that we’re such a connected Hospital and Health Service, we’re fully networked and collaborative so I think that’s a real positive,” Dr Knowles said.

Research Ethics and Governance Officer Mandy Hubbard is excited about what can be achieved in the next five years.

“This strategy will ensure we have a clear goal in mind, and subsequent actions in place to make sure we get where we need to be. Research is innovative, it’s about offering different alternatives and finding different patient care options, our standard of care is good, but we want to go above and beyond, that’s what research enables us to do,” Ms Hubbard said.

Darling Downs Health is currently involved in clinical trials for oncology, our emergency department and intensive care unit.

As Advanced Psychologist Marcella Cullin explains, there’s more to research than clinical and tele-trials.

“Research is about having the tools to understand problems and once we understand problems, we can understand solutions. Research is set of tools and skills to help us create better practice.

Advanced Psychologist Marcella Cullin

“We need to remember everybody can play a part in research at different levels, you don’t have to be a leading academic, you can just be someone with a really good idea,” Ms Cullin said.

Ms Cullin is currently working on several research projects, all centred around oncology, hematology and palliative care.

“We’re in the early stages of working with UniSQ to create a legacy for people who are at the end of their life. We’re hoping to provide them with an opportunity to work with local artists to create a visual legacy,” Ms Cullin said.

The Research Strategy will be released in the coming months.