Former RAF medic, 92, urges more people to take part in health research

A 92-year-old former RAF servicewoman is encouraging more people to take part in health research after a trial helped her halve her blood pressure medication.

Phyll Handley is among 60,100 people across the West Midlands who took part in National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)-supported health and care studies during the past year.

The retired medic took part in the OPTIMISE 2 trial, which is investigating whether reducing common blood pressure medication is safe and effective for older people over the longer term.

Before joining the study, Phyll was taking two blood pressure tablets a day. After being selected for the trial's intervention group, she stopped taking one of the medications and now only takes a single tablet.

"My blood pressure has lowered so I thought I'd give the trial a go and now I only have to take one tablet," she said.

"So it's better for me. I wouldn't give it a thought about getting involved in research again. I didn't mind at all and there's no time or money involved. I would say to anyone: 'Just do it.'

"It gives you something to talk about, it's better than watching TV, and I've met new people as a result."

Phyll was invited to take part after a routine visit to her GP surgery, where she was assessed by NIHR Research Delivery Network Senior Research Nurse Lesley Mackinnon.

Following the trial, she became the first person in the West Midlands to complete the NIHR's digital My Research Experience questionnaire.

Lesley said: "Phyll is quite a character and she has wholly embraced communicating over email. She has proved age needn't be a barrier to digital communication and has shown how easy it can be."

A retired gas inspector who also spent six years serving as an RAF medic, Phyll is a published author of two books and wrote short stories for magazines for 15 years. She previously ran the Worcester Writers Circle and remains an honorary member.

She said email suits her because she is hard of hearing.

"If I've got a query, I just email Lesley - it's easy. I receive emails to say my tablets are being delivered too," she said.

"I prefer emails because I'm hard of hearing, so I struggle to hear the telephone. I like to write - I still write letters and send birthday cards and thank you notes. Emails are less intrusive than phone calls."

During her RAF service, Phyll was stationed at RAF Bircham Newton in Norfolk, where she remembers the late Prince Philip training to fly helicopters in the 1950s.

"There used to be an ambulance on standby when he flew," she recalled.

New figures released by the NIHR show that 60,100 people across the West Midlands took part in 955 health and care research studies during 2025/26. This included 22,737 participants in the West Midlands metropolitan county, 9,350 in Warwickshire and 6,514 in Shropshire.

Across England, the NIHR supported 878,698 volunteers to take part in 4,536 studies during the year, bringing the total number of participants involved in NIHR-supported research since April 2020 to more than 7.4 million.

Professor Matthew Brookes, Director of the NIHR West Midlands Regional Research Delivery Network, said: "We are incredibly proud of the people in the West Midlands who have stepped up to be part of the solution to some of our biggest health challenges.

"It's great to know that our region's 60,100 participants are part of a massive movement to unlock better treatments for cancer, stroke and many other diseases right here on our doorstep."

The NIHR is encouraging anyone aged 18 or over to sign up to its Be Part of Research website service, which matches volunteers with suitable health and care research studies.