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Partnership wins national health industry award

22/03/2019
This article is more than five years old.

A new test for pre-eclampsia developed and introduced at the John Radcliffe Hospital has won a national prize.

The initiative - a collaboration between Oxford University Hospitals, the Oxford Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) and Roche Diagnostics - was the winner of the Best Healthcare Provider Partnership category at the HSJ Partnership Awards.

The test predicts with much greater accuracy whether a pregnant woman will develop pre-eclampsia within the following seven days. It rules out women who will not develop pre-eclampsia so that they do not have to undergo the worry and inconvenience of an unnecessary hospital stay. It also means that resources can be focused more effectively on the women who really need them.

The test was trialled at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) where it has now been introduced as standard. The Oxford AHSN is overseeing its introduction into other hospitals. It measures the ratio of two placental factors - maternal serum soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase (sFlt-1) and placental growth factor (PlGF) - that are released into the mother's blood.

The judges said: "This project showed high levels of innovation and sophistication. This evidence-based project delivered demonstrable improvements in patient experience."

Prof Gary Ford, Chief Executive of the Oxford AHSN, said: "We are delighted that the judges saw how this approach is making a real difference to the lives of many pregnant women.

"More accurate diagnosis brings many benefits - it reduces the need for admission as well as indicating those women who need closer monitoring. This is a powerful example of improved diagnostics leading to improved clinical care pathways."

Dr Manu Vatish, Consultant Obstetrician at OUH and Senior Clinical Fellow with the University of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health, said: "Almost 70 percent of patients admitted don't actually have pre-eclampsia. Using the new test together with standard clinical practice, this figure rises to 100 percent.

"This approach allows us effectively to segregate patients into those who have virtually no risk of getting the disease and those with an increased risk. This test improves our diagnostic accuracy and is a welcome step forward."

Tim James, OUH Head Biomedical Scientist, said: "The beauty of these tests is that they are not reliant on analysers only available in Oxford. The instruments are available at many hospitals, meaning the benefits can be expanded across the UK relatively rapidly and easily, and pregnant women everywhere should be able to benefit."

Chris Hudson, Director of Access and Innovation, Roche Diagnostics, said: "Working in partnership with the Oxford AHSN meant the right stakeholders were brought together with a clear plan developed to accelerate the adoption of this innovation. We believe in working with partners in the NHS to transform healthcare and innovations like this can help women receive the right level of care at the right time, which in turn can improve patient safety."

Read more about the new test

Better diagnosis of pre-eclampsia improves patient safety and reduces burden on maternity services (pdf) - www.oxfordahsn.org