Staff and patients at Southport and Formby District General Hospital played their part in a major international development in the fight against the Covid-19 coronavirus.

The results of the Recovery trial, which involved patients recruited by Southport hospital, suggest the low-cost steroid dexamethasone reduced death rates among the most severely ill Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital. The risk for patients placed on ventilators was cut by a third, and the risk for patients on oxygen was reduced by a fifth.

Chris Whitty, England’s Chief Medical Officer, said that the trial was “the most important trial result for Covid-19 so far”.

Dr Ashar Ahmed, Clinical Director of Medicine at Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, said: “I want to thank and congratulate, along with my co-investigators Dr Arvind Nune and Dr Stefania Pintus, the whole team here who participated in the trial.

“We have been privileged and greatly enjoyed being part of the Recovery study. Although it was a challenge at an extremely busy time, we recognised this would offer an opportunity for our patients to receive treatment as part of the trial which otherwise they would not have had access to.”

Jeanette Anders, Research Development and Innovation Manager, said: “The study was led by our research team, medical team, Covid wards and pharmacy, all of whom were committed and instrumental to the success of this vital work.

“The Trust is contributing to a number urgent Covid public health research studies and firmly believe that every patient should have the opportunity to participate in this important research, leading to improved treatment options and better outcomes for our patients.”