The Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Trust and Maidstone and Tunbridge NHS Trust have completed the first NuVision Fellowship Programme auditing patients with corneal disease, who have received amniotic membrane treatment.
Over the past 12-months, the Queen Victoria Hospital and Maidstone and Tunbridge NHS Trusts have been collaborating to host the first NuVision® Biotherapies (www.nu-vision.co.uk) sponsored clinical fellowship. The aim of the fellowship was to audit amniotic membrane (amnion) use in their outpatient and surgical eye services to understand improvements being made to help treat patients with front of the eye disease.
NuVision is a tissue-based therapy company that specialises in the treatment of ocular diseases. The company processes and preserves a layer of placental sac, which holds and nurtures the baby as it grows in the womb, called the amniotic membrane. This material is collected from voluntary consenting mothers that are undergoing an elective caesarean section. It is then upcycled into a treatment that can be applied onto patients to stabilise their eye following injury from disease or external factors.
Alongside NuVision, AOS advanced Ophthalmic Solutions (https://aos-hub.com) have supported the project by providing their digital imaging system to allow for objective grading and analytics to support effective recording throughout the audit. The collaboration between the Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Trust; Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust; AOS and NuVision Biotherapies highlights how industry can support healthcare bodies to help grow knowledge and to drive towards improved patient care.
“This fellowship presents an exciting example of how industry is working in partnership with the NHS to help improve patient care and deliver practice changing innovation across the NHS” Dr. Andrew Hopkinson, the Chief Scientific Officer of NuVision stated. “Recognising the pressures put on NHS Ophthalmology services and waiting list due to the pandemic, it’s more important than ever that we support our healthcare system is delivering the most cost effective care” He continued.
The “NuVision Clinical Fellowship” has been part funded by Medilink Midlands and the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network (AHSN). The fellowship supports the improvement of the NHS service by funding a clinical fellow to work within the trusts. The aim of the audit is to define if and how amniotic membrane treatment has improved patient care since implementation. The teams across the Queen Victoria Hospital and Maidstone Hospital previously published retrospective data using on the benefits of this treatment, but this prospective audit is planned to provide more in depth and potentially comparative data set. Since the development of COVID-19, ophthalmic outpatient waiting lists across the country have been heavily hit causing the drive to get patients effectively treated as quickly as possible.
“NuVision has a truly innovative and outstanding approach to treating corneal disease. We were delighted to be able to help them on their development pathway by providing support through our innovation programme that is part funded by ERDF. I am confident that the help we’ve given to them, both in terms of the grant funding and the dedicated time and effort that one of our Innovation Advisers has invested in them, will make their treatment available quicker, relieve pressure on the NHS and improve outcomes for patients.” Darren Clark, Deputy Chair, Medilink Midlands.
The East Midland Academic Health Science Network commented: “We provide expertise and support to health companies to help them develop and spread their innovations, so they get to more patients faster, and help generate NHS efficiencies. The work NuVision is progressing has fantastic potential to improve patient outcomes by significantly improving the availability and accessibility of amniotic membrane treatment in outpatient and surgical settings. Sound research underpins successful innovation, and we are delighted to support this fellowship initiative, which has significant potential to further develop clinical knowledge and transform patient care”.
This fellowship was launched at a poignant time as it began when Public Health England’s Atlas Report on the variation in risk factors and healthcare for vision was published in August 2021. The first health intelligence output solely focused on eye health. The report stated that outpatient activity has decreased by 29% causing 2.7 million fewer appointments on the previous annum. This fellowship has allowed for additional ophthalmic support at the NHS and provides the capacity to understand the effectiveness of the standard of care being used.
For more information on the Queen Victoria Hospital’s ophthalmology department, please visit: https://www.qvh.nhs.uk/our-services/head-neck-eyes-dental/corneoplastics-and-ophthalmology/. For information on Maidstone Hospital’s ophthalmology department, please see: https://www.mtw.nhs.uk/service/ophthalmology/