Patients: the number one concern

They work among us. The research teams call upon their expertise every day. Discreet, indispensable cogs in the research centre’s activities, working far from the media spotlight. Without them, the CHUM Research Center’s (CRCHUM) heart would stop beating! Spotlight on five employees in the management team during the COVID‑19 pandemic.

In March 2020, clinical research began feeling the impact of the pandemic. Patient recruitment had to be paused and the functioning of clinical trials had to be reimagined.

Josée Leclerc, the senior manager of the research clinic, and her colleague Claudette Boily, the clinic’s senior coordinator, were on the front lines. Reinventing themselves at work to avoid slowing down research became a recurring pattern to them.

“Our research teams had to adapt to the health restrictions, along with the hospital services called upon when carrying out research projects. Even though COVID‑19 projects were prioritized, research activities considered essential had to be maintained for projects for which treatment interruption would jeopardize patients’ immediate health or safety. For example, patients already receiving treatment protocols in oncology had to continue to receive their treatments‑COVID‑19 or not,” explained Josée Leclerc.

As Claudette Boily recalled, “We continued to evaluate research projects so that our teams could gradually resume clinical activities following the easing of lockdown measures and the recommendations of the Public Health Department.”

The crisis forced everyone to rethink the way they worked. New ways of doing things emerged, such as home delivery of medication, alternative methods of obtaining consent and the implementation of remote clinical follow-up visits (by phone or videoconference).

In addition, to limit access to the facilities, a secure connection system giving remote access to project data was implemented to allow external auditors to ensure the quality of the different protocols. A major advance that should remain as a post-pandemic practice.

These initiatives led to our two associates being invited by the Table Nationale des Directeurs de Recherche to participate in task forces on consent and remote monitoring in a pandemic context.