Darren Jones sees heart care innovation from hospital to high street
Last week (8 January), Darren Jones MP, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, visited one of Europe’s largest cardiac units at St Bartholomew’s Hospital before travelling to Lansbury Pharmacy in Ilford to see how a pioneering cholesterol testing programme is bringing cardiac care closer to home across north east London.
At Lansbury Pharmacy, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones saw seven-minute finger-prick cholesterol tests being delivered on the high street. Developed by ELOPE (East London Cardiovascular Prevention programme), a system wide initiative led by Barts Health NHS Trust in partnership with UCLPartners and HEART UK, the service shows how care is shifting from hospitals into neighbourhood settings and from treatment towards prevention. The scheme aims to prevent heart attacks and strokes by detecting and managing cardiovascular risk earlier and closer to home.
The test, which was picked up by BBC News, provides a full cholesterol reading in under seven minutes and calculates a person’s risk of heart attack or stroke over the next 10 years, enabling pharmacists to give immediate advice and start treatment where appropriate . Results are available via the NHS App, with digital referral to GPs when further care is needed. From the new year, the same test will also be used to identify diabetes and pre-diabetes.
Earlier in the day, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister visited Barts Heart Centre to see how hospital-based innovation complements this community prevention work. He saw the centre’s new state-of-the-art cardiac CT scanner, which produces faster and more detailed images than anywhere else in the country and allows clinicians to scan up to 25 patients a day. Combined with artificial intelligence, the technology helps teams detect subtle changes in the heart, diagnose people earlier and deliver more personalised care.
He also visited the cardiac catheter laboratories and found out how many patients can have their condition and vital signs monitored from the comfort of their own home while waiting for their procedures, helping to reduce hospital admissions and improve patient experience.
Charles Knight, Chief Executive of St Bartholomew’s, said: “From prevention delivered on the high street to world-leading technology at the Barts Heart Centre, this visit shows how we are joining up hospital and community care to diagnose earlier, improve outcomes and reduce inequalities for people across north east London.”
Together, both visits highlight how north east London is building a more efficient NHS by combining innovation in hospitals with prevention in local communities.
Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, said: "It was brilliant to see how cutting edge technology is being used in the NHS to help save lives. From the Barts Heart Centre that can scan patients faster than any other cardiac unit in the world, to this pharmacy pilot which lets people get a cholesterol test while they wait for a prescription, the government is investing in a better NHS that works for you."
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