Formally opened in October 2021, the REAcH Hub provides a dedicated area to facilitate research programmes at DBTH, to enable the Trust to deliver more projects and extend its research offer. The hub consists of meeting rooms and training facilities to help in conducting its research projects.
The rooms within the hub have been named after five historic scientists known for their work in furthering research in healthcare.
A research project was set by the Education and Research team at DBTH tasked five year eight students from Hall Cross Academy to find out information about the lives of these visionaries and how their work impacted on healthcare through to the present day. Their work appears on the door plaques that mark each of the rooms within the research unit and tells the story of their chosen healthcare scientist.
Whilst the students wrote the narrative for the plaques early this year, the visit has only been practical into the new academic year. However, the students were given the opportunity to come along and see their work first hand, and were given a tour of the facility and a talk by the Professor of Education, Alasdair Strachan.
During the talk, Professor Strachan inspired the students to consider a career in research and healthcare. Hall Cross Academy, a Foundation in Health School, have a shared history with DBTH collaborating on many projects, such as the We Care into the Future careers fair, as well as giving volunteer opportunities through their Healthcare Ambassador role, and promoting healthcare as a career choice to its pupils.
Alasdair said: “It has been great to finally allow students from Hall Cross to come along and see our facilities as well as see their wonderful work.
“The research department has been a key part of our strategic plans to move DBTH forward in its research provision. Whilst we have made significant ground in developing and contributing to research, we plan to extend this across the organisation and embed it within every area, so colleagues apply research within their work, whether in engineering, finance or healthcare.
“Our aims are to collaborate with other public organisations, such as Doncaster Council and Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH), and the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University to extend our ability to improve outcomes for our populations, one such project being the BaBi-D project, a large cohort of data collected on behalf of babies born within the Doncaster area. Another study is being conducted on an international scale, which seeks to improve breast cancer treatment.”
To find out more about the research the Trust is involved with, please go to: https://www.dbth.nhs.uk/research-and-development/
Images show the students standing next to their plaques. Each plaque displays the name of the room and the student responsible for writing the accompanying information.