NIA innovation featured on BBC South Today

Up to 1,000 patients across coastal west Sussex will now be using AliveCor’s Kardia mobile ECG, as highlighted by BBC South Today in its late news broadcast on 11 October.

AliveCor’s Kardia was one of 17 innovations which formed part of the 2015/16 NHS Innovation Accelerator’s successful cohort, developed by NIA Fellow, Francis White.

A report by BBC South Today Health Correspondent, David Fenton, described how 85 per cent of people with minor heart palpitations could be treated by their GP moving forward, thanks to the Kardia mobile ECG. With only the most serious cases requiring a hospital visit, this will save specialists’ time and the NHS money.

Featuring service user, GP and consultant testimony, the broadcast highlighted the popularity of the device with patients. One GP from The Arundel Surgery described the Kardia’s simplicity, highlighting its convenience for patients as they can undergo investigation effectively from the surgery rather than having to make a hospital visit.

Dr Mark Tanner, a Consultant Cardiologist at St Richard’s Hospital, emphasised that because the device is so unintrusive, it enables patients to use it for months if necessary, capturing their heart rhythm at the time of their symptoms.

AliveCor was one of 17 companies selected for the 2015/16 NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA). The NIA, now in its second year, supports some of the best healthcare innovators with evidence-based innovations to help improve health outcomes and give patients access to the latest products, services and technology at lower cost. The NIA is an NHS England initiative hosted by UCLPartners in partnership with the country’s 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs). Outcomes to date include 17 Fellows with tried and tested innovations participating in the programme, generation of almost £17millon in funding, and 345 additional NHS providers and commissioners now using the NIA innovations.

For more information about AliveCor’s Kardia, visit www.alivecor.com/en