Clinical Trials Group

	Profile

The Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) provides and maintains a sophisticated, efficient and internationally recognised quality clinical trials service for the RBWH.

The scope of the CTU is based on its ability to involve the RBWH Divisions of Maternity Services and Neonatology in relevant, quality clinical trial research that reflects health priorities. The unit is active in collaborative and original clinical research.

Evidence based practice is a prominent theme of the new millennium. The Cochrane Collaboration is the repository of the highest quality evidence underpinning health care practices. The PRC is active in contributing to this collaboration across a variety of areas of expertise that encompass all the PRC groups. Protocols are developed and published with regular updates provided through review of published material. This process is important for a number of reasons, including the need to refine unmanageable amounts of published data, critical exploration, evaluation and synthesis of data to establish the most important, sound and relevant studies. Systematic reviews may be utilised by health policy makers, clinicians, researchers and consumers to stay abreast of findings and influence health care decisions and choices.

Fetal Wellbeing
A new method of fetal monitoring, fetal intrapartum pulse oximetry, is being evaluated through observational studies and in a multicentre randomised controlled trial co-ordinated from the PRC.

Population Health
Indigenous health, at risk child health.

Research Projects:

• Several related projects aim to improve outcomes in the priority area of Indigenous child health by addressing the high rate of SIDS and the need to reduce delay in seeking medical assistance, through improved community awareness.
  
  
• A project is generating a best practice model for the maintenance of quality health outcomes in QLD for very low birthweight children at high risk of neurodevelopmental disability.

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