Victorian regional and rural access to clinical trials has increased significantly over the last four years thanks to a pilot program called TrialHub.
Bendigo Health is one of six Victorian regional, rural and outer metro hospitals currently participating in the program, which is supporting each health service with what they need to be able to open or improve their own clinical trial unit.
The program, based at Alfred Health, was established in 2020 with the goal of reducing the mental and financial burden on patients having to travel to a metro centre for a clinical trial.
While Bendigo Health has conducted clinical trials for more than two decades, TrialHub has provided operational and financial support to the existing staff, as well as funding dedicated resources and upskilling opportunities to further expand our clinical trials.
Dr Chloe Georgiou was TrialHub’s first clinical trials fellow in 2021. This enabled her to train specifically in clinical trials and stay at Bendigo Health to forge a career in research and clinical trials.
“I grew up in regional Victoria and the long-term plan was always to work regionally," she said.
"I thought I had to choose between a research career in Melbourne or medical oncologist career in Bendigo.
"The TrialHub fellowship program has created an amazing opportunity that allows me to do both. I’ve been able to help increase trial activities in Bendigo while exposing me to a range of trials we would not have been able to offer here in the past."
Clinical trials can give patients early access to treatment that has been proven successful well before it’s available to the public.
They can improve quality of life for patients with a range of diseases, and help to find new and improved treatment.
As part of International Clinical Trials Day, Dr Georgiou joined six other Victorian health services, and trial participants, in a special video about clinical trials to help Victorians understand them better.
Low awareness of clinicals trials is one of the biggest reasons people don’t participate in clinical trials.
This year, seven health services working with TrialHub – Alfred Health, Bass Coast Health, Latrobe Regional Health, Mildura Base Public Hospital, Northern Health, Bendigo Health, and Peninsula Health - have come together to create a unique video to debunk clinical trials and to celebrate the progress that’s been made outside of metro Melbourne to increase access to clinical trials closer to home.