NHS England has invested in 4 technologies through NHS England’s Innovation and Technology Payment programme:
HeartFlow, the Advanced image analysis software that creates a 3D model of the coronary arteries and analyses the impact that blockages have on blood flow to rapidly diagnose patients with suspected coronary artery disease. The use of the device can avoid the need for invasive investigations such as coronary angiography, usually carried out under local anaesthetic, where a catheter is passed through the blood vessels to the heart to release a dye before X-rays are taken. NICE estimate up to 35,000 people per year could be eligible.
Plus Sutures, a new type of surgical suture – stitching – that reduces the rate of surgery-linked infection (surgical site infection) such as MRSA, through the use of antimicrobial suture packs. There were 823 cases of MRSA reported in the NHS in 2016/17.
Endocuff Vision, a new type of device which allows better examination of the bowel during a colonoscopy. This improves detection of adenomas, pre-cancerous tissue growth known as ‘polyps’ .
SecurAcath, a device to secure catheters that reduces the infection risk for patients with a peripherally inserted central catheter. The use of this equipment helps to reduce the time taken to care and treat dressing changes. This type of catheter is normally used in people needing intravenous access for several weeks or months in both inpatient and outpatient settings. NICE estimate up to 120,000 people per year could be eligible.
This is the second year of the drive to identify and fast track specific innovations into the NHS, which has already benefitted over 107,000 patients. The NHS’ own innovation agencies – the 15 Academic Health Science Networks across England – have the direct responsibility for accelerating uptake locally.
Dr Sam Roberts, director of innovation and life sciences at NHS England, said: “The NHS is always open to new technologies and today we have put our money behind our intentions by directly funding these tools.
“Promising innovations often struggle to gather the evidence they need to enable their rollout in the NHS, which is why it so important we have programmes like this to allow us to gather the evidence we need to help spread the use of new technologies that can save money and improve care for patients.”
