- The small gadget will be able to perform ECG heart scans on patients
- Doctors will diagnose the heart condition atrial fibrillation in 30 seconds
- Atrial fibrillation hits 2.5million Britons causing strokes and heart attacks
- The new devices will cost less than £100 each but could save millions
Sophie Borland for the Daily Mail
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Millions of patients will benefit from life-saving devices that will be rolled out in GP surgeries and hospitals, under NHS plans.
They include a gadget that can diagnose a common but deadly heart condition which can be very difficult to detect.
Simon Stevens, the NHS chief executive, will today outline details of the scheme that will enable cheap, cutting edge devices to be fast tracked and made available for doctors.
One such example is a tiny object the size of a credit card that enables GPs to diagnose the fatal heart condition atrial fibrillation in 30 seconds.
The new device can fit on the back of a smartphone and can carry out an immediate ECG test, file photograph
This affects 2.5 million Britons and is one of the main causes of strokes and heart attacks, yet is often undetected as there are few symptoms.
Patients place their hands over the device, which fits on the back of a smartphone, and it carries out an Electrocardiogram or ECG test.
This is an electronic reading of their heart which immediately detects the condition.
Currently most patients have to wait several weeks to have an ECG carried out at hospital after being referred by their GP – and often it is undiagnosed as there are few symptoms.
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The devices will begin being rolled out in surgeries and hospitals from next April and NHS officials hope that 100 new types will be made available each year.
But from today, private companies and scientists who have developed cheap, hi tech gadgets will be able to apply to be approved by the scheme, known as the NHS Innovation Accelerator Programme.
GP surgeries and hospitals will be then be urged to buy them-in – at reduced rates agreed by the NHS – and most will cost less than £100 each.
Mr Stevens said the scheme would save lives, spare patients unnecessary appointments and shave millions from the NHS’s budget.
Unveiling the proposals at the NHS Confederation conference in Manchester, he added: ‘For people with diabetes, for people with heart disease, for pregnant mums, for acutely ill inpatients, there is a huge opportunity to improve the quality of care and also save money in other parts of the NHS.
NHS chief executive Simon Stevens will announce a new gadget today that can diagnose a heart condition
‘This is by getting millions of new medtech devices and treatments into the hands of doctors, nurses and therapists.’
‘The NHS has a proud track record of world firsts in medical innovation – think hip replacements, IVF, vaccinations and organ transplants to name just a few.
‘But then getting wide uptake has often been slow and frustrating.
‘Now – at a time when the NHS is under pressure – rather than just running harder to stand still, it’s time to grab with both hands these practical new treatments and technologies.
‘By doing that, we can transform people’s lives.’
‘The NHS has got the potential to be a world leader in the adoption of innovation.
‘But in order to do that we’ve got to remove some of the obstacles.’
Mr Stevens said the devices were underused by the NHS – partly because they face so much bureaucracy being approved.
Companies have to apply to one of the regulators – the Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency (MHRA) or the European Medicines Agency (EMA) – to get a license to offer to patients.
They must then persuade individual GP surgeries and hospitals to buy them in, and take-up is very low.
The new scheme will provide trusts with an approved list of devices from which they can choose depending on the needs of their local patients.
Another gadget likely to be made available could prevent up to 20,000 critically ill patients a year developing pneumonia.
It fits in the throats of patients on Intensive Care Units and blocks bacteria from entering their lungs, which would otherwise cause the infection.
Other devices likely to be approved include those which can diagnose complications in pregnancy and help patients with diabetes and chronic lung conditions treat themselves.
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