Improved Patient Pathway at Wirral Heart Support Centre with iPOCT’s Point of Care Testing System
Staff at NHS Wirral’s Heart Support Centre are able to offer more effective care for patients following the recent installation of a point of care testing service. Decisions about treatment and medication can be made in a single visit, which may also lead to improved health and lower costs.
Point of care testing (POCT) is an innovative form of testing of patient samples outside a conventional laboratory setting, improving patient flow with rapid turn around time for results and improved access to testing in community care settings. The aim of the co-operation between the Wirral Heart Support Centre and iPOCT was to establish a POCT service to run Full Blood Counts, Urea & Electrolytes and INR testing at the Clinic. This means that patient results are available before the patient sees the Cardiologist. Frieda Rimmer, Clinical Services Manager at the Centre helped to set up the service, she said “I am very pleased with the way the service is running and feel very much supported by the Unilabs iPOCT team who are always at hand at the end of the phone”. “The goal for the Wirral Heart Centre in using iPOCT Point of Care Testing service is to improve the patient pathway and thanks to iPOCT we can now offer our patients an improved service with fewer visits to hospital” says Dr Abhi Mantgani, PEC Chair at Wirral PCT. The delivery of iPOCT’s total support solution for point of care testing offers ‘end to end’ connectivity, within an N3 compliant environment. The solution provides network and data security, with 24 hour monitoring of all connections, capture of all test data, equipment and operator information and connection to patient electronic journal if required.. All patient results are reviewed by our Consultant Clinical Scientist. Our friendly support team actively engage with users on a regular basis. iPOCT’s total solution includes an independent/external assessment by UKAS and CPA of our Governance and Quality Framework which includes; monitoring service users performance against a series of Key Performance Indicators, training and competency assessment of operators, validation of analysers, and IT connections, plus monitoring performance in internal quality control and external quality assessment.. All activities are managed in a way to meet the requirements of ISO22870:2006 (BS/EN ISO 15189:2007 Point of Care testing (POCT) Requirements for Quality and Competence) together with the Clinical Pathology Accreditation (CPA) UK Ltd Standards for the Medical Laboratory and all appropriate national and international guidelines. All procedures implemented at managed sites are mandatory to ensure that the ‘Right Result’ is reported for the ‘Right Patient’ iPOCT are leaders in the field of Point of Care Testing services, offering a total solution for healthcare organisations, both public and private. iPOCT manage remote sites across the UK and in Denmark. “I am very pleased that we now have successfully completed our first POCT installation in the NHS in co-operation with Wirral Heart Support Centre” says Paula Connor – National Manager Clinical Laboratory Medicine – Unilabs UK. -- ENDS -- For more information, please contact Claire Pridige Sales & Marketing Manager Unilabs iPOCT +44 (0)1536 521438 or claire.pridige@unilabs.com -- Notes to Editors -- About Unilabs iPOCT Independent Point of Care Testing Services (iPOCT) is part of Unilabs, one of Europe’s largest and most rapidly growing diagnostic companies with a strong reputation for excellence in public and private healthcare. Unilabs operates in 12 countries providing laboratory medicine and radiology services to public and private healthcare. Unilabs iPOCT are leaders in the field of Point of Care Testing services, offering a total solution for healthcare organisations. iPOCT manage sites in the UK in both the public and private sectors and also manage a hospital site in Denmark. About Wirral Heart Support Centre The Wirral Heart Support Centre is the centre of cardiac rehabilitation in Wirral. It provides cardiac rehabilitation and prevention services in Wallasey and Birkenhead. The programme consists of patient assessment, education, lifestyle intervention and exercise rehabilitation. After completion of the six week programme, patients are able to access a twice weekly, 12 week exercise programme at the Cardiac Rehabilitation gym at St Catherine’s in Birkenhead. About Point of Care Testing The 24/7 availability of POCT provides opportunities for improved access, giving options to simplify acute care, chronic disease management and screening. It can reduce your overall cost for a healthcare episode, reduce the use of staff and equipment and provide greater value for money. It improves report turnaround times to allow a ‘one stop shop’ reducing the number of clinical visits for patients. Emergency results are available within minutes allowing for improved clinical decision making and potentially a reduction in the number of patients admitted to hospital. Treatment can start earlier and the care pathway is convenient for doctors, staff and patients. iPOCT focus on a selected range of analysers to provide a board menu of tests. Our test menu currently includes: • Urea & Electrolytes inc Creatinine • Glucose • Blood Gases & Electrolytes • CRP • Biochemistry Profiles • Liver Function • Lipids • Full blood count • INR • Haemoglobin • D-dimer • HbA1c • Urine Analysis In development: Cardiac Markers (Troponin, BNP) Drugs of Abuse Screening MRSA screening (PCR) iPOCT operate within a clinical governance framework in accordance with the current UK guidelines for POCT and have submitted an application to CPA and UKAS for a joint inspection against ISO 15189 and ISO 22870. Following a successful final assessment, we now await the granting of accreditation. The delivery of our POCT service is built upon our complete service solution and offers ‘end to end’ connectivity with a transferable electronic diagnostic record. Our solution provides network and data security with 24 hour monitoring of all connections, capture of all test data, equipment and operator information, access to our support team from any point in the world. We can also connect to our customer’s electronic patient record if required. iPOCT provide a help desk for all customer site users and manage all aspects of the service including: result management; analyser management; operator management and also report on a series of statistics. Resources Further information, interview and photo opportunities are available by contacting Claire Pridige, Sales and Marketing Manager on +44 (0) 1536 521438 or +44 (0)7500 091 080 or claire.pridige@unilabs.com iPOCT, Ground Floor, Nesfield House, Broughton Hall Business Park, Skipton, Yorkshire, BD23 2AN. Tele +44 (0)1756 708 910 www.unilabs-ipoct.co.uk e-mail ipoct.supprt@unilabs.com Unilabs Limited, trading as iPOCT. Registered office 142 – 144 New Cavendish Street, London, W1W 6YF.
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