SBRI-funded pilot introduces new point-of-care testing for children in emergency departments

Health Innovation North West Coast is proud to be a partner in a successful SBRI Health Care grant competition: Competition 26:  Urgent and Emergency Care for point-of-care testing in three paediatric emergency departments in England, including Alder Hey.

The project will require elements of education and training, pathway change, coaching and leadership, evaluation, and a plan for spread and adoption outside of project’s study sites:  areas where Health Innovation North West Coast will be a vital partner.

Mandy Townsend, Associate Director for Patient Safety at Health Innovation North West Coast, said: “This is a true collaboration between, NHS, academia, industry and our team. We are looking forward to working with teams to understand how to reliably implement these types of tests so they bring their promised benefits to patients and clinicians.”

The grant, which was led by Professor Enitan Carrol at the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, will pilot point- of-care testing to differentiate between bacterial and viral infections. Children who arrive at the emergency department with a fever may receive a MeMedBV rapid blood test, which will inform clinicians within 15 minutes of the likelihood that a child has a viral or bacterial infection. This will help reduce diagnostic uncertainty and could lead to a number of benefits, including being able to treat the child quickly and effectively and reducing the unnecessary prescription of antibiotics,

Professor Carrol said: “We are delighted to partner with Health Innovation North West Coast, MeMed and other partners in NHS and academia to gain a better understanding of how the new test might fit into current care pathways, and the complex interactions influencing whether, how, and why clinicians act on information from diagnostic tests to make antibiotic prescribing decisions. Further exploration of these contextual, professional and behavioural factors will help inform future trials and ensure successful implementation.”

Dr Tanya Gottlieb, VP Scientific Affairs at MeMed, said: “We are excited about this opportunity to collaborate with the University of Liverpool, Health Innovation North West Coast, Imperial College, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital-Liverpool, Great North Children’s Hospital-Newcastle, St. Mary’s Hospital-London and SBRI Healthcare. We view this project as a pivotal step towards deciphering best practices for MeMed BV implementation in the NHS.”

Work has already begun on this 12-month programme. The total value of the grant is £476,500 (Urgent and Emergency Care) and will be shared by bid partners to complete their deliverables.