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Healing Foundation Centre for Children’s Burns Research launches today [10 June]

Healing Foundation Centre for Children’s Burns Research logo

Healing Foundation Centre for Children’s Burns Research logo

Press release issued: 10 June 2013

A £1.5 million research centre that aims to find new advances in the prevention and treatment of children’s burns launches at Frenchay Hospital today [June 10]. Led by the University of Bristol, the Healing Foundation Centre for Children’s Burns Research will develop new techniques and approaches to prevent burns and scalds and improve the clinical care and recovery of children who have suffered such injuries.

A £1.5 million research centre that aims to find new advances in the prevention and treatment of children’s burns launches at Frenchay Hospital today [June 10].  Led by the University of Bristol, the Healing Foundation Centre for Children’s Burns Researchwill develop new techniques and approaches to prevent burns and scalds and improve the clinical care and recovery of children who have suffered such injuries.

Each year 23,000 children are hospitalised with burns in England and Wales. Two children are brought in to the South West UK Children’s Burn Centre at Frenchay Hospital with scalds every day. Some burns can be life-threatening and in some cases the effects can be life-long, and include physical scarring, chronic pain and psychological difficulties.

Based at the South West UK Children’s Burns Centre at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, the centre is led by the University of Bristol in partnership with clinicians and academics at North Bristol NHS Trust, the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), the University of Bath and Cardiff University.

The centre has been awarded £1.5 million over five years from the Healing Foundation — a national charity funding research into new surgical and psychological healing techniques for people living with disfigurement. Each partner has also provided funding, along with the Welsh Government who are contributing £280,000.

The Healing Foundation Centre for Children’s Burns Research will focus on three key strands of research:

  • The clinical treatment of children with burns, including burn wound management and developing current research in partnership with the University of Bath looking at smart dressings which can indicate infection.
  • Psychological healing and rehabilitation lead by the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR) at UWE Bristol to research ways of improving the psychological outcome of burn injury and promote the rehabilitation of children back into school and social networks.
  • Prevention research building on previous research collaborations between the University of Bristol and Cardiff University to develop programmes to prevent burn and scald injuries to children.

Falklands War veteran Simon Weston, and Lead Ambassador for the Healing Foundation, will visit Frenchay Hospital to see the work of the children’s burns team and meet patients.

Professor Alan Emond, a senior academic paediatrician at the University of Bristol, who is leading the research team, with Dr Amber Young, lead consultant for the South West UK Children’s Burn Centre at Frenchay, said: “This is an exciting new multi-disciplinary research initiative, which will improve the evidence base for both the prevention and treatment of burns, and train researchers of the future.”

Professor Peter Mathieson, Dean of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Bristol, said: "This centre is a superb example of the power of collaboration amongst universities plus the NHS. It brings together like-minded scientists and clinicians with the shared goal of improving the prevention and treatment of these devastating forms of injury. We are very grateful to the Healing Foundation for supporting our plans.”

Dr Young added: “The support of the Healing Foundation is a huge accolade for the quality of burns care at Frenchay Hospital and of the research already being undertaken in Bristol and Bath.

“The centre will bring enhanced infrastructure and support allowing innovation and advances in the way we understand and treat burns wounds to ensure that more children can go on to live healthy, happy lives free from the physical and psychological scars of a burn injury.”

Brendan Eley, Chief Executive of the Healing Foundation said: “The team assembled to drive this research programme is world-leading and have beaten very stiff competition, from leading universities and hospitals across the UK, to win this important award.

“We are confident that the work of this centre will deliver real benefits to those children who suffer scalds and burns as well as bring new understanding to how such injuries in the future can be better prevented.”

The Healing Foundation Centre for Children’s Burns Research will move to the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in 2014 when paediatric services move from Frenchay Hospital.

 

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