INNOVATION IN HEALTHCARE & MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES7 FIRST INNOvATION THROUgH SCORECARD Healthcare- acquired infections ( HCAIs) are already of upmost importance for NHS trusts and have been a major point of concern in recent high- profile hospital investigations. From April this year, new mandatory regulations set by the Care Quality Commission will make HCAI compliance in hospitals even stricter. As well as apparent health implications, HCAIs are also a major financial cost for NHS trusts. It has been estimated by the Department of Health that infections such as MRSA and C. diff cost the NHS around £ 1 billion each year. Hand hygiene and ward maintenance have been the predominant focus to tackle infections, but there are other clinical interventions that can help reduce the risk. One of these is the introduction of single- use products. Single- use tourniquets Two junior doctors found that tourni-quets - a strap used around a patient's arm while taking blood samples - were being used over and over again and a prime place for cross infection to occur. Reusable tourniquets are typically used, which consist of an elasticised piece of material that is secured around the arm with a strap. They are used for around 40 million procedures each year in the NHS, and the doctors found through their own investigation that a consider-able amount of bacteria grew on them. Consequently, they began developing a practical single- use tourniquet to overcome the problem. " We came up with the idea when we saw tourniquets were being transferred from patient to patient on wards, which we felt was a potential risk for infections," said Dr Ryan Kerstein, co- founder of ASep Healthcare. " We found that some tourniquets had been in use for anywhere between two and 104 weeks and could be used up to 11 times a day. Even with the advent of disposable tourniquets, the problem was that they could easily be pocketed and used again. That's when we came up with the idea for Tournistrip." There are existing disposable alterna-tives available, but they are not widely used due to their cost and lack of patient comfort. Some healthcare professionals even use rubber gloves to combat costs, but this is seen as unprofessional and uncomfortable for patients. Tournistrip is designed for its ease of use by healthcare professionals, its comfort for patients and to be truly single use and disposable. It is made from plasticised paper, ensuring Tournistrip is fit for purpose and looks and feels disposable to ensure that it is only used once. The flexibility of the material means it is comfortable for the patient, and the adhesive fastening strip means it can be applied with minimal effort. It offers sin-gle- handed release and removal. It was designed to match the ease of reusable tourniquets while keeping cost efficiency. It has two built- in features to ensure it can only be used once. First, there is the " peel here'' strip which, once removed, cannot easily be reapplied. Second, after use the plasticised paper has been engineered to deform. A recent clinical study of the product by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital showed that both healthcare profes-sionals and patients preferred it over other tourniquets currently available. Seventy- two per cent of patients found Tournistrip comfortable during use, and 94 per cent of phlebotomists found it easier to use than standard reusable tourniquets. When comparing it to cur-rent disposable alternatives, all phlebot-omists surveyed preferred Tournistrip. " The study shows that it is valued above the current generation of disposables and seen as a viable replacement to cur-rent reusables," said Dr Christian Fel-lowes, co- founder of Asep Healthcare. " If Tournistrip was adopted by the NHS, it could reduce the risk of infections from soiled re- usable tourniquets." As well as the clinical study, Tournistrip has now been evaluated in several NHS trusts and identified as the disposable of choice. Bringing it to market ASep Healthcare, the company behind Tournistrip, wanted a reli-able route to market for the prod-uct - NHS Supply Chain's Innovation Scorecard was the ideal solution. " It was easy to apply through Score-card," said Farooq Hussain, co- founder of ASep Healthcare. " We registered the product details online and filled out the application form. We were then con-tacted by the innovation team at NHS Supply Chain for supplementary infor-mation and offered a pilot contract." Emma Tandy said: " Tournistrip is a truly innovative product that will ultimately help cut the risk of infections." THE INNOvATION SCORECARD PROCESS » REgISTER Suppliers register on the innovation area of NHS Supply Chain's website ( www. supplychain. nhs. uk/ innovation). » SUBMIT The application consists of a series of questions which address the concept, value and capability of the product. » SCORE The product will be scored and submitted for consideration. » RESEARCH Every product is different so NHS Supply Chain conducts comprehensive market research/ analysis and clinical feedback on products submitted. » EvALUATION If deemed innovative, the product is assessed further with suppliers having an opportunity to present new products and technologies in front of an NHS Supply Chain Task Force. » CONTRACT Following Task Force feedback, if the product is perceived to benefit the NHS, NHS Supply Chain seeks to fast track its introduction through a pilot contract. NHS SUPPly cHaiN Leading the way for innovation in the NHS

8INNOVATION IN HEALTHCARE & MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES Over recent years NICE has recom-mended some of the most innovative new drugs and treatments to become available on the UK market. Under-standing the value, to patients, of new health technologies is central to the work that NICE does in advis-ing health professionals, patients and the wider public on the best approach to improving the quality and consistency of care provided by the NHS. NICE regularly consults on its approach to valuing innovation and the question of how to estab-lish value has always been part of the public debate around NICE deci-sions. Not surprisingly, the decisions NICE makes are not always popular and NICE has often been accused of hold-ing back innovation and stifling the development of new products by restricting access to them in the NHS - in other words that, by saying " no" to a new drug, NICE stifles poten-tial innovation in the form of future advances. In his recent report on the future of the biotechnology industry in the UK1, Sir David Cooksey stressed the importance of NICE and the phar-maceutical industry working towards a shared understanding of how to value innovative new health technolo-gies. In response, in February 2009, NICE asked Professor Sir Ian Kennedy to undertake an independent study into how NICE establishes the value of innovation, and in particular to make recommendations about what approach should be adopted by NICE Since its inception, NICE has had a remit to support innovation and innovative products where they offer real benefits to patients and the NHS Healthcare innovation - the role of NICE Contact: Phil Ranson, External Communications Manager MidCity Place, 71 High Holborn, London WC1V 6NA Tel: 0845 003 7780 E- mail: nice@ nice. org. uk Website: www. nice. org. uk Healthcare innovation NatioNal iNStitUte for HealtH aNd cliNical eXcelleNce