EDGEY's Trip to South Africa

EDGEY’s Trip

to South Africa

EDGEY and CIRU Head of Trading Services, Tim Gibbons landed in Cape Town, South Africa in early September to visit the University of Cape Town (UCT) Clinical Research Centre and his long-standing friend, Annemie Stewart.

University of Cape Town were the first group to convert from EDGE 2 to EDGE 3 in February this year. Since February Annemie has been working with her Data Manager, Lwazi Mhlanti to transition some of the spreadsheet trial trackers from Excel to EDGE. They’re now planning to get stuck in with using some of the Finance recording, apportioning and invoices tools over the coming months. As of September, UCT have 43 trials and trial sites across the African continent under one single system, (EDGE), for the first time.

While EDGEY was in town he met a newcomer to EDGE, Linda Mbuthini, Clinical Trials Data Manager for the University of Cape Town’s Lung Institute. The Lung Institute are working to develop their use of EDGE providing support to an established data capture team and interacting with field Nurses and Senior Researchers across the continent. They’ll be using the newly developed EDGE processes for their Tuberculosis study opening in South Africa, Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe this winter.

We are looking forward to welcoming the University of Cape town team to our EDGE conference in March 2024.

CIRU’s Tim Gibbons with UCT EDGE users

Taking Research to New Heights

Taking Research to New Heights

Learn, Share and Aspire.

If I were being really honest, I never expected to be working in the healthcare sector and even more so for the CIRU team. I had initially anticipated working for around 18 months as a Consultant Project Manager for Greater Glasgow and Clyde working with the infrastructure team to aid in the deployment of new hardware and software way back in the ‘Windows 7’ days. I met so many fantastic people, cleaners, porters, nurses, and consultants all with one aim: improving the lives and care of patients. Working for the finance sector across London and Europe, I was accustomed to having all the resources and funding I needed. This was not to be said for the NHS and I felt guilty. I decided then and there I was going to change careers, join the NHS, and make change. Maybe it was fate, but two weeks before I was due to leave, I was asked to apply for a role within the Clinical Trials Unit and so my journey with EDGE and the NHS began.

There I was, zero experience of trials, in fact on my first day I heard the nurses discussing blind trials. Let’s just say I thought they were discussing ophthalmology and that remained a joke for some time. I was tasked with migrating all the patient and trials management information for the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre from the in-house system to EDGE 2, and that’s when clinical trials and all the complexities began to make sense to me. Within 12 months I felt I had never known anything else, and soon thereafter I transferred to the Glasgow CRF to carry out another EDGE implementation and data migration.

The EDGE Aspire Conference 2018 provided the catalyst that propelled my EDGE journey. I listened with enthusiasm to the breakout session by Tracey Hole "Finance- Getting the basics right" and thought we should be doing this. Here I was, back in the office with an old-style costing spreadsheet staring at the ceiling thinking of how to get this square peg into a round hole. I remained undeterred and so the ‘Import Tool‘ was born. That year was amazing, the late nights and long weekends developing, culminated in speaking at the EDGE Connected Conference 2019 and by then I had connected with so many from the EDGE community who saw merit in the work I had completed.

I had not long started working with NHS Lothian when COVID-19 came along, a dreadful time for so many but the research community rallied together to achieve great things. This is when my journey with Mat Davis from UH Dorset NHS Trust began, and having already began work on the new format, I joined forces with Mat. Albeit we were 446 miles apart, it quickly became apparent we had similar life backgrounds and ambitions to help the NHS. In that first 6 months I think we spent more time together than we did with our families and we are both very proud of all we achieved since: the new ICT Tool, the EDGE Assistant, Tracker, and Apportionment Module. He is now someone I consider as a great friend and it’s just a pity we are so far apart, but we do keep each other going. I should also mention a huge thanks to the finance team at Lothian, especially Hugh and Neil and for Monica who works alongside Mat who have been instrumental in the design and features of the tools.

And now to the Clinical Informatics Unit and EDGE. COVID-19 brought a whole new way of remote working and when the opportunity to work with a team I had long admired it was never in doubt. To be honest I have always been part of the team in spirit. I was literally thrown in at the deep end with the launch of EDGE 3 days after joining. It’s been challenging and eventful and there is never a dull moment. My aim here as the Programme Manager is assist the current EDGE user base and attract new Trusts and Networks with a focus on managing their finance. A new area of interest is that of Cybersecurity and maintaining the integrity of the data and improving the process and procedures within the department.

My new role does differ from that of a Lead Admin, but at its core my role still remains the same: to improve patient care and be part of a team where that ethos is already embedded in everything that they do.

My new role, EDGE 3 launch, and looking to the future

My new role, EDGE 3 launch,

and looking to the future

I originally found the prospect of leaving the NHS in which I had spent nearly a decade of my life during my twenties to be extremely daunting, however my passion for research and wanting to deliver change led me joining the EDGE team earlier this year.  Within this very short period of time, we have seen the launch of EDGE 3 throughout the UK, which I will admit has kept the entire team very busy the last few months. It has given me the perfect opportunity to speak to and engage with our Users, and to better understand how they use EDGE daily within their roles, whilst also having the opportunity to see the integration of the wider EDGE community, in regards to how everyone shares ideas an common work practices which has been joyous to see.

As a Client Manager, I oversee several accounts within England along with multiple international accounts. This entails a wide range of responsibilities which include account and project management, listening to User feedback which drives our functionality in an ever-changing clinical research environment, along with offering constant support to our Users through our support email.  But it is the drive and evolution in system functionality where my curiosity truly lies. I really enjoy looking at the ideas that our Users have presented to us, then trying to work out where they sit within the system, and the potential benefit that they could give the community as a whole. This makes us really excited about eventually being able to share with our Users what we have planned for the future, and helping you be able to deliver high quality research work.

Another part of my role that I have really enjoyed is being able to attend research conferences, which has given me a unique position to see multiple aspects of research in both secondary care and the growing research infrastructure within primary care. Coming from a background of conducting research in surgical oncology for nearly 6 years, these conferences have been eye opening to both the successes and difficulties that the wider research communities in the UK face every week. The conversations that occur at these conferences are also incredibly important to how we see change in the continuously evolving research environment. An example of this has been the substantial uptake in Users wishing to learn more about the finance functionality within EDGE and the benefit this will have for their organisations. I am sure finance will be a big focus at the next EDGE conference next year, which I am really looking forward to. It’s going to be my first experience of being part of such a big event and I can’t wait to hear inspiring talks from our Users. I hope to see you there!

EDGE 3 Conference - Bookings are open!

EDGE 3 Conference

Bookings are open!

It’s official! We have now opened bookings for the next EDGE Conference – EVOLVE: Engage. Embrace. Empower. The EDGE 3-focused event, EVOLVE, is taking place on the 24th-25th April 2024 at the Vox in Birmingham, England, UK, and will follow the global rollout of EDGE 3. We have used the Vox for two previous conferences and it’s a venue that really works for us. It’s spacious, modern, and has all the breakout and conference rooms close together, making it nice and easy for delegates to get to the sessions they want to attend. We are extremely excited to be returning next year for our 6th EDGE Conference and are expecting it to be the biggest one yet as the conference grows bigger and bigger year on year.

To mark the grand occasion of the conference’s return, we are currently running a special Early Bird discount, giving 15% off ticket prices. If you want to secure this incredible rate, you must book by the 3rd July, so get booking now! We also have a group discount for bookings of 5 or more delegates from the same organisation. This fantastic offer of ‘book 4 places and get the 5th free’ is running until the event date to encourage organisations to send more EDGE Users so they can benefit from the conference’s learning and development opportunities. More information on how to book can be found here.

We are currently going through speaker submissions and working on putting together a draft agenda, but here is a sneak peek on what you can expect from the event. The EVOLVE conference is the opportunity for Users to reunite with other members of the EDGE community for 2 days of training, learning, and skill sharing. Topics will be suited to all types of EDGE Users, including Admin, Users, and those with expert knowledge, as well as those who are just getting started! The conference programme will provide sessions for all types of research departments, including R&D and support departments such as Pharmacy and Clinical teams.

User-led sessions will encourage learning and development of EDGE knowledge as experiences and best practice is shared, including tips and tricks for using different functionalities of EDGE 3, such as finance, reports, and workflows (just to name a few). You can also expect to hear from an array of inspiring healthcare and research keynote speakers from across the field, as well as receiving an EDGE 3 update from the team here at CIRU.

The aim of EVOLVE is for Users to Engage and Embrace the new version of EDGE and leave feeling ready to Empower their new skills and knowledge learnt!

We welcome Users to attend from across the globe and encourage non-EDGE subscribers to join us, as it is a great opportunity to see how EDGE can benefit your research world. Ready to sign up? Find out more here.

EDGE 3 launched in the UK!

EDGE 3

launched in the UK

After launching EDGE 3 in South Africa and New Zealand, we are thrilled to now share that the new and approved EDGE software was rolled out across the UK earlier this month. EDGE 3 was launched across thousands of sites in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland and is our biggest launch yet. To mark this event, we caught up with Mikayala King, Research Governance and QA Manager from University Hospitals Southampton (UHS) to see how the launch has gone at one of our biggest UK organisations.

Despite Mikayala having an MHRA inspection going on with intense preparations, she shared with us that the launch of EDGE 3 has gone really smoothly and how there was lots of excitement around the new version:

“Everyone was really excited to get to see the new EDGE version and I suspect all through the weekend people were trying to see if it was live yet. When it went live, word went around the Trust in a flash, and everyone was happy they still had their trials and all of the information in workflows, etc. had been moved over so smoothly and they could still access everything.”

During the interview we asked Mikayala how her users have handled the change. Her response was again very positive and she shared a few things which has helped manage the rollout across the Trust:

“Mostly people have been happy to see the change and excited to see how it all works and what they can do and see now that they couldn’t before. We have set up a working group to manage the change and to look at functionality of EDGE 3 to see where there are opportunities to improve or increase our use of the system. The EDGE champions were all involved in the user acceptance testing so have seen the system before. They were already on hand to guide people and our generic inbox was manned by experienced EDGE users to sort out any problems.”

We asked Mikayala what advice and tips she would give other Lead Administrators / EDGE Leads and she replied with the following:

“Don’t panic! A lot of the work has been done for you with the videos and training that EDGE have supplied.  Make sure there is somewhere for people to go if they encounter a problem and don’t let them use it as an excuse to reduce their use of EDGE. Make sure users have ample warning if they are not going to be able to access EDGE whilst the update takes place, so they can prepare and gather information they need before the move over. In EDGE 3, the Notifications automatically revert to default of telling users everything so make sure you have some guidance to hand to help users if they want to switch them off!”

Lastly, we were keen to find out how EDGE 3 will drive things forward at UHS and we were very happy to hear Mikayala’s plans for the updated delegation log:

“We are already embracing the new delegation log. It solved an issue the day after launch in that we were struggling to get a PI at a remote site to sign the delegation log for a study. We were able to customise the delegation log for the study and get the PI to sign through EDGE. This customisability is absolutely key in making this function much more usable. The working group is going to be looking at all of the functionality and I can feedback on where we go with EDGE in the future!”

The UK launch marks the biggest rollout of EDGE 3, and we are so delighted that it has finally happened, after years and years of work behind the scenes here at CIRU. We are now working on plans for the next country to receive EDGE 3. More information will be coming as soon as!

EDGE 3 launched in New Zealand

EDGE 3

launched in New Zealand

Following a successful launch in January to South Africa, we are excited to share that we have now rolled out EDGE 3 Production (LIVE) to our second country, New Zealand. The main sites to receive the updated software are Cancer Trials New Zealand from the University of Auckland (UoA) and Te Pūriri o Te Ora (Cancer & Blood) Research from Te Toka Tumai Auckland.

We spoke with users Sarah Benge, Research Operations Manager and Eibhlin Corrigan, Trials Manager from UoA, as well as Natalie Lowe, Unit Coordinator from Te Pūriri o Te Ora (Cancer & Blood) Research, to hear how the launch went. Both Sarah and Natalie used the words “seamless” when referring to the switch over from EDGE version 2 to EDGE version 3. Natalie followed on to share how her users were “stunned at first” but quickly settled into exploring and clicking around to familiarise themselves with the new layout. For UoA, Sarah gave the following comments:

“For Cancer Trials New Zealand (University of Auckland) the launch was seamless, we had notifications from the EDGE team at University of Southampton and a countdown when we logged into EDGE 2, it all happened whilst we were asleep, and we woke to the new EDGE 3. We only have a few users so transitioning to using the new structure and interface was easy for us.”

During our interview we also asked if there were any hurdles that the sites had to overcome. The response to this question was again very positive. Sarah confirmed she had nothing to overcome, and Natalie told us that there were a few bugs to fix, however, these were resolved quickly by the EDGE team. Natalie also said the following:

“Shout outs to Nicky and the EDGE developers! You’re amazing! We feel honored to be the second country in the world to receive EDGE 3!”

Both Sarah and Natalie have reported how easily and quickly users have adapted to the change and were able to use the system straight away with no issues. Natalie shared:

“Our users have quickly adapted to the shiny new EDGE interface, and this really just highlights how user-friendly the EDGE 3 design is. Although things have been arranged differently and a few things have even been renamed, their new locations/names are logical, so the transition doesn’t actually take that long. The EDGE team have done a stellar job at streamlining the interface to make EDGE 3 an even more powerful and efficient tool than it already was”.

Natalie also gave us some great advice to pass onto other Regional Leads who are yet to experience the EDGE 3 rollout:

“I would just say when you get access to the EDGE 3 User Acceptance Testing platform, make sure you test and explore every part of the system by practicing doing all tasks you normally do in EDGE. If you know that your staff use different features of EDGE or use the same features in different ways, get them involved to test the UAT as well! This will really help you identify any bugs ahead of time and get them resolved before everyone is unleashed on the live system!”

Lastly, we asked how EDGE 3 will drive things forward in New Zealand. Eibhlin shared:

“The arrival of EDGE 3 has reinvigorated our team to look at how we can continue to utilise EDGE in our day-to-day activities. The transformation of EDGE to a modern, slick design and user interface shows how the system is moving to keep up with pace of clinical research. One of our favourites of the new features and functions is the customisable dashboard on the homepage.”

The New Zealand launch is another great milestone reached for the EDGE team which we are thrilled about. Next in line for the update is the UK, which will be our biggest launch yet with thousands of sites across England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland gaining EDGE 3!

Photo of users from UoA, New Zealand with their EDGEY mascot

Photo of users from Te Pūriri o Te Ora (Cancer & Blood) Research, New Zealand