The AHSN Network has supported many innovators to help advance our health and care system. Find out more about successful innovations supported by the NHS.
YOURmeds is a digital monitored dosage system, supporting users to take their medicines as intended and so maintain their safety and independence, whilst ensuring they get the best clinical outcomes from their medicines.
PINCER is a pharmacist-led Information technology intervention for the reduction of clinically important errors in medicines management.
The cobas® Liat® System is a fast, easy-to-use, compact PCR system designed for on-demand testing in point-of-care settings such as clinics, pharmacies, and hospital and satellite laboratories. The Oxford AHSN assisted in the first UK based evaluation of the the cobas® Liat® Influenza A/B test, in the Emergency Department (ED) of the Royal Berkshire Hospital, which provides secondary emergency care for most of Berkshire. The test is a PCR based test using either nasopharyngeal or throat swabs and requires minimal sample preparation. The evaluation aimed to see if the test reduced patient length of stay, reduced antibiotic use and increased the use of antivirals. The Oxford AHSN project managed the evaluation and provided active, hands-on support. The Oxford AHSN also enlisted York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) to provide impartial health economics, using the metrics collected during the evaluation and anonymised data. The health economic data was then used to inform the business case for the Trust procuring the tests going forward. Plans to roll out the test in community settings have been put on hold pending a product update to include a Covid-19 test.
The HIN engaged with OPUS and commissioned them on a pro bono basis to adapt their existing comprehensive guidance to ensure care home staff were aware of how to safely administer medicines without using a dosette box during the pandemic.
Pando is a communications platform for healthcare professionals, created by NHS doctors which helps NHS workers exchange patient information, make clinical decisions, manage their workload, and making collaboration easy, fast and secure. Pando saves healthcare professionals more than 40 minutes per shift and improves satisfaction at work, while saving NHS Trusts £6.9m over a 5-year term.
Wokingham Community Hospital purchased two different Point of Care (POC) diagnostic test devices for their elderly in-patient unit and wanted to evaluate the impact of attaining results more quickly and understand how it could help the nurses make effective decisions regarding treatment. The Oxford AHSN assisted by reporting the economic cost-consequence analysis of the two tests, determining what the cost benefit would be to the hospital by using Point of Care testing and extrapolate the benefits to the other community hospitals. QuickRead Go CRP is a rapid blood test for the quantitative determination of C-reactive protein that shows if there is inflammation or infection in the body. Alinity i-STAT is a portable blood testing machine with a cartridge for urea and electrolytes (U&E) that the nurses used to assess the kidney function of the patient. The tests enabled healthcare professionals to rapidly diagnose patients, and the greatest benefit came in knowing which patients did not need to be sent to the local Emergency Department (ED).
WMAHSN are supporting GPs and pharmacists within the Midlands region to move patients to Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD). eRD offers a range of benefits such as reduced footfall to the GP practice and to the community pharmacy, supporting social distancing during COVID-19.
PINCER is a proven pharmacist-led IT-based intervention to reduce clinically important medication errors in primary care. PINCER has been rolled out across the West Midlands region in 252 practices across the region. The was largest and quickest uptake of PINCER across the country and the project overachieved its 2 year target in 1 year.
