Celebrating International Clinical Trials Day with our patients and families

21 Jun 2023, 11 a.m.

Three pictures in a series. The first is a young girl in a wheelchair, with her brown hair in two pigtails, wearing blue glasses. She smiles at the camera while a "I'm a GOSH Research Champion Sign" is held in front of her. The second photo is of a young boy wearing safety goggles, a white lab coat and very large blue protective gloves. He holds onto and looks down a mini-microscope while sat on a lime green chair. The third photo is of a young girl with two braided plaits, wearing a Junior Research Nurse blue uniform. She smiles at the camera as she plays with play medical kits.

At Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), we embed research and innovation in everything that we do, improving the care we can deliver to children with rare and complex diseases. A big part of that research is our portfolio of clinical trials.

On 19 May we enjoyed welcoming patients, their families and GOSH staff, including GOSH nursery to the Lagoon to celebrate International Clinical Trials Day as well as the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) “Be Part of Research campaign that aims to raise awareness of research.

Our interactive activity hub in the Lagoon welcomed over 50 visitors who met research staff, shared their stories and joined in our fun research engagement activities.

Families were able to visit our laboratory stall to study slides under a microscope or practise their pipetting skills. Children were also able to put on our junior nurses’ uniforms, or GOSH lab coats and learn about the role of our research nurses through play and art activities.

GOSH teams also used the event to run a “mock chocolate trial” – walking families through a randomised controlled clinical trial, from start to finish!

There was the opportunity to sign up to become a Foundation Trust Member and take away information on GOSH Sample Bank.

Bernard Bear (a large ginger bear costume) stands in the GOSH hospital entrance, wearing a GOSH charity t-shirt and a white lab coat. He holds a GOSH therapy dog in his hands.

Patients and families were visited by special guest - Scientist Bernard Bear and a GOSH therapy dog

We’d like to thank all of the research and research nursing staff who took part in leading activities.

Contact us to find out more about Patient and Public Involvement opportunities at GOSH.

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