Medical tech could save thousands - in time and money

Wednesday 07 November 2018

If Guernsey were to start trials for new medical technology, it could save huge amounts of money and time, and overcome several problems the health sector is facing, according to a UK health innovation expert.

These trials would see applications that can give local professionals immediate access to experts in the UK, help health staff track out-patients medication and also speed up diagnoses dramatically.

Dr Farid Khan has been working with two local healthcare professionals to encourage the Guernsey sector to look at starting these trials. But it would not be the first time the businesses behind the tech actually trial their platforms, they already are being used throughout the UK, have received some level of endorsement and investment from the NHS, and are also being adopted internationally.

This, Dr Khan said, is Guernsey's opportunity to recover from "missing the digital revolution 10 years ago". 

"I started six years ago with the Isle of Man, it is an island, so it was isolated, and their health care costs were quite large," he said.

"The problem they were facing was how to get experts to come to the island, how can you bridge that gap, because it is difficult to convince them to move to an island when they can get a great job in the UK - you can do that with technology. You could have 500 surgeons on an app, telling a relatively untrained nurse what to do, then those experts can carry out a diagnosis, all there and then. 

"Then another example is with outpatients. 50% of people don't take their medicine when they get home, so they don't get better. There are applications that register when people have taken their medicine, all rather than nurses coming out to a house to actively check.

Pictured: Your Meds is one of the businesses Dr Khan said could start a trial in Guernsey. They are already running a successful trial in Liverpool, helping people monitor taking their medicine.

"So my point here was to try and explain how Guernsey could be a test bed for these companies - they can do new trials here and it can benefit the island at the same time."

One tangible example Dr Khan gave in explaining what this med tech can do, was talking about Urinary Tract Infections. He said normally, you would need to firstly attend your GP, and provide a sample, which would take one day. Then, you would wait two days for that sample to be delivered to a lab, two more days, and then it would be "grown", three more days. Then you would receive a diagnosis and finally be able to be given proper treatment. 

With this new med tech, there is the opportunity for the GP to examine the sample themselves, pass the information through the technology, and provide the correct type of antibiotics to the patient all in one day.

Pictured: Guernsey's first Medvention was held at the Digital Greenhouse. It was the first of its kind on the island, but Dr Khan said the Isle of Man now have a biannual convention to discuss new medical technology investments.

"This isn't a situation of the companies needing Guernsey to let them do trials, they are already seeing success. But Guernsey can really benefit here. It suffers medically because it is an island, but these businesses can make a real difference," Dr Khan added.

"We are talking about potentially cutting deaths from colon cancer by 50%, through early diagnosis. And it will be making that much difference, all while being 10 or 100 times cheaper."

Dr Khan was in Guernsey speaking at the island's first ever Medvention - a gathering of island healthcare professionals all discussing the potential of medical technology. You can read more about what he, and Anita Kilby, the organiser of the event, were talking about here.

Pictured top: De Farid Khan.