Anthony Davis

Anthony nominated for research award

Oxleas Research and Knowledge Manager, Anthony Davis, has been nominated for a prestigious award in the field of mental health research.

Anthony, part of the Quality and Audit Team based at Pinewood House, has been put forward for the award for the work he has done as part of the South London and South East (SLSE) Hub of the Mental Health Research Network (MHRN).

SLSE Hub Manager, Elizabeth Hutt, said: “In the last couple of years Anthony has been a huge part of the research growth success story of Oxleas. He was required to very quickly become the trust’s expert in how to work with the networks and to develop research and development strategies to ensure that the trust was able to meet the research targets being set for it. From a Hub perspective Anthony is an incredibly valuable asset and can be relied upon to help set up studies quickly and effectively. He is always a pragmatic collaborator for any studies facing difficulties.”

The MHRN is part of the National Institute for Health Research and its mission is to help make research about mental health happen within the NHS in England. It works with everyone who needs to be involved in research projects – researchers, mental health professionals, people with experience of mental health problems, their families, and research and development staff based in NHS trusts. It supports studies that are based within mental health services, within social care services and within primary care services.

It supports trials, service evaluations, qualitative studies, epidemiological research, genetic research and e-science studies. It supports multi-centre and multi-site projects as well as small single-site pilot studies. And it supports both publicly-funded research studies and projects that are sponsored by industry.

Anthony, 41, joined the trust 13 years ago as a healthcare assistant working at the Goldie Leigh site in Abbey Wood before a secondment to the trust library, where his research skills were fully exploited. He holds a Masters degree in the Philosophy and Ethics of Mental Health.

Anthony said: “I am surprised yet pleased. I don’t though see this as an individual award it is representative of all the research carried out throughout the trust.

“The whole aim of research is to enable access for service users and patients to novel treatments and interventions that aren't available as part of routine NHS care. Research informs best practice ie NICE guidance and is therefore key to the quality of the services we provide and leads to better outcomes."

The awards will be presented at the MHRN three-day annual Research Meeting in Birmingham in April.