UK government's cash fund to help medical breakthroughs

Hundreds of millions of pounds will be invested in the UK life sciences industry to improve patient care and fund new medical breakthroughs, as the UK government announced the launch of its Life Sciences Strategy and a review of innovation in the NHS on 5 December.

According to a press release published on www.number10.gov.uk, the official website of the British Prime Minister’s office, key measures include:

• installing remote medical devices– such as home-based equipment that can send details of the vital statistics of at-risk patients directly to doctors – to 3 million people over the next five years

• consultation on proposals for a new “early access scheme” that will accelerate the introduction of new drugs and technologies in NHS hospitals

• a new £180 million fund to help the next generation of British medical breakthroughs become the next generation of great British companies.

Commenting on the plan, UK Prime Minister David Cameron is quoted as saying, “We can be proud of our past, but we cannot be complacent about our future. The industry is changing, not just year by year, but month by month. We’ve got a leading science base, four of the world’s top 10 universities and a National Health Service unlike any other. But these strengths alone are not enough to keep pace with what’s happening. We’ve got to change radically—the way we innovate, the way we collaborate, the way we open up the NHS.”

The UK life science industry, which includes pharmaceutical, medical technology and medical biotechnology companies, is one of the world leaders. It is the third largest contributor to economic growth in the UK, with more than 4,000 companies, employing around 160,000 people and with a total annual turnover of over £50 billion.

Awareness of Continuous Glucose Monitoring is Key Goal for National Diabetes Month

In light of National Diabetes Month in November manufacturers and healthcare professionals alike are aiming to increase awareness of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) as a health management tool for those with type 1 diabetes. Dexcom, a leading manufacturer in CGM devices, has launched a public awareness campaign for just this purpose. The campaign, which is titled “Life (and Death) Happens Between Finger Sticks” is intended to spread a message about the need for CGM as a solution to protect people with diabetes at critical times such as while sleeping or driving.

Studies show that one in four people with Type I diabetes experience hypoglycemic unawareness, a complication of diabetes in which the patient is unaware of a dangerous drop in blood sugar because it fails to produce the usual symptoms.

It’s been found that drivers with type 1 diabetes are likely to have more than twice as many collisions as their non-diabetic spouses, and on average people with diabetes visit the emergency room three times a year. These phenomena are the result of hypoglycemic unawareness, which can cause a loss of mental function and motor skills. "Every day, people are dying unnecessarily, simply because they could not predict or detect a hypoglycemic event," said Steve Edelman, M.D., founder and director of Taking Control of Your Diabetes, a not-for-profit educational organization. "That's a tragic outcome, especially because there is modern technology available right now that can prevent it."

The CGM technology Dr. Edelman is referring to is now available from several manufacturers, including the Dexcom Seven® Plus, the Medtronic Guardian®, and the Abbott Navigator® as leaders in this technology. This technology has seen such improvements recently that the Endocrine Society has now issued a recommendation for clinical practices to use CGM for treatments of adults, adolescents, and children with type 1 diabetes. While there are priceless benefits to human health, the cost savings benefits of prevented emergency and hospital care make a great argument for the increased usage of CGM for diabetes management. As awareness increases and technology continues to improve we hope to see CGM as a recognized standard of care, to reduce healthcare costs and increase the well-being of those with type 1 diabetes.


Resources:
http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11639&catid=1&Itemid=17
http://investor.shareholder.com/dexcom/releaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=621829
http://www.diabeticinnovations.com/diabetes-facts.htm

BRIC and South Africa Health Ministers discussing ways to increase access to healthcare products and services

The governments of the BRIC economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China – as well as South Africa have agreed to establish a “technological co-operation network” to develop cheaper healthcare products.


According to a statement by the Brazilian government, the respective health ministers (vice-minister in the case of Russia) met in Beijing yesterday to discuss ways of increasing access to healthcare products and services, as a means of fostering social and economic development in the five countries.

A key element of the plans, which are yet to be discussed in greater detail later this year, will be to bring together the public and private sectors, and to establish an international health technology assessment (HTA) network as a means of ascertaining healthcare priorities, according to the Brazilian statement.

Brazilian health minister Alexandre Padilha, delivered a speech at this first “BRICS health ministers conference”, underlining Brazil’s keenness to foster stronger collaboration with medtech developers internationally. “Brazil is open to collaborating with firms in other countries in order to achieve these objectives, through a mutually-advantageous relationship,” he said.

He cited the production of a rapid and economical point-of-care HIV test, developed in collaboration with the US’s Chembio Diagnostics, as a future model of this type of collaboration.

The details of the initiative are due to be discussed further during the forthcoming United Nations general assembly, in September.

See Clinica.co.uk 12 July 2011

GP Consortia - what's new?

There are now 177 GP commissioning consortia covering two thirds of the country and 35 million people.

By 2013 the UK's National Health Service will comprise  the National Health Commissioning Board, which will be in charge of the GP consortia. Alongside this will be the hospitals which will be Foundation Trusts running independently, much as they are now. SHA’s and PCTs will cease to exist.

So what does this mean for suppliers to the NHS?

We spoke to David Parnell, Chief Executive of the East Suffolk Federation, and asked this question. The main thing seems to be that nothing much has changed with regard to purchasing. Within the consortia GP practices (Practice Managers) will continue to buy as they wish, as will hospitals. However, if a consortium can see a major cost benefit in using a particular device or service they would recommend that all their member practices take it on; for instance, some consortia are looking to go with just one brand of blood glucose meter, to realign the whole BG testing area. It is problematic to get practices to agree on anything though – they tend to want to use the one they are familiar with.  

A company could therefore go direct to the consortium if it is evidenced that their product will save practices lots of money. It would have to show cost savings over and above the use of the hospital path lab for example, in the case of diagnostic equipment.  There might be an issue around accuracy and calibration and matching the hospital systems. The consortium would also have to look at whether if the patient was referred would they get this test anyway in a bundle? If so, it would not be worth the GPs doing the test.

Another example of consortia purchasing is 24hr BP machines. A local consortium bought them for all practices and purchased the machine that was consistent with the hospital – mainly in order that if the patient had to be admitted they wouldn’t have to re-test. It’s all down to a business case. A manufacturer would do best to trial their device or system in a few practices to demonstrate cost savings specific to the primary care sector.

Telehealth for CHF is being trialled in some areas and, if successful, will be rolled out. The Community Matron is alerted if any patient’s results are not within range and will respond. They deal with the very chronic patients and the telehealth systems will make better use of their services, since they are few in numbers. 

We asked David what the priorities of the East Suffolk Federation were and he said, in this order: breaking even on their budget; engagement in practices and patients; reducing orthopaedic admissions (hip and knee replacements). With regard to breaking even on budget the main cost is emergency admissions, whose numbers are astronomical – children are more likely to be admitted at A&E, old people are more likely to have an ambulance called for them by nursing homes, more people walk into A&E for minor things. The consortia want to identify patiennts at risk and monitor them, to avoid admissions.

Thanks to David Parnell, Chief Executive of the East Suffolk Federation PBC for the above interview. The Federation comprises three GP consortia in East and coastal Suffolk and includes 26 practices.

NHS Trust purchasing slammed by auditors as "poor value for money"

In a report published today, the NAO (National Audit Office) said fragmented purchasing of basic supplies, including medical equipment and stationery, represents “poor value for money”. The spend amounts to £4.6 billion a year.

The NAO estimated at least £500 million could be saved annually if trusts bought in a more collaborative way. The government’s plans to decentralise the NHS puts efficient buying at risk, it added, because it secures no commitment from hospitals to purchase a single item or class of supplies.


Trusts are not getting value for money because they purchase many different types of the same product. This included 21 varieties of A4 paper, 652 types of medical gloves and 1,751 different cannulas across all hospitals.

Although trusts can use regional procurement hubs and a national supplies and distribution organisation, the report said, “there is no requirement for them to do so”, and they are free to buy directly from suppliers. Some hospitals were incurring unnecessary administrative costs by making multiple, small purchase orders.

The majority of hospital trusts - 129 out of 165 - are foundation trusts which are outside the Department of Health’s (DH) direct control. Under the Health and Social Care Bill, the government hopes to turn all hospital trusts into foundation trusts.

By 2015, the NHS must find £15 billion to £20 billion of annual efficiency savings.
A DH statement said: "The more efficient the NHS becomes, the more we can invest back into patient care.  While it is up to local hospitals to decide how they purchase products, government has a role in providing support and robust information. We are therefore considering launching a review to help hospitals get better value for money from procurement, drawing on the expertise of government advisers."

Link to article here

Artificial Pancreas could help Pregnant Diabetics

A wearable artificial pancreas could control type 1 diabetes during pregnancy, according to a study conducted by researchers at Cambridge University in the UK.
Researchers tested the artificial pancreas with ten pregnant women with type 1 diabetes, and found that the device provided the right amount of insulin, maintained near normal blood sugar, and prevented dangerous drops in blood-sugar levels at night.
The artificial pancreas, created by combining a continuous glucose monitor and an insulin pump, works by automatically monitoring blood glucose and pumping insulin to maintain the right sugar levels.
Although previous studies showed that the device could help children with type 1 diabetes, this is the first study where it has been successfully tested on pregnant women.
Due to high glucose levels in women with diabetes, their babies are five times more likely to be stillborn, three times more likely to die in their first months of life and twice as likely to have a major deformity, the researchers noted.

http://www.medicaldevice-network.com/news/news108755.html?WT.mc_id=DN_News