PocDoc partners with NHS Targeted Lung Health Programme in North East, leveraging new biomarker Coronary Artery Calcium, to identify patients at increased risk of cardiovascular disease

CAMBRIDGE, England, June 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PocDoc, the Cambridge-based digital health platform, today announces a major pilot with the NHS Targeted Lung Health Check programme in the North East, in partnership with cardiologist Dr Alan Bagnall and the NIHR Clinical Research Network North East and North Cumbria (CRN NENC).

As documented widely in recent weeks, the NHS England Targeted Lung Health Checks (TLHC) are aiming to screen a million people per year across the UK, finding people with early-stage lung cancer, enabling lifesaving treatment. But these scans also identify the early stages of another common killer – coronary heart disease.

Seventy percent of those attending for TLHC scans will have coronary artery calcium (CAC) – a new marker of heightened risk of a heart attack or stroke which is identified during the scan. Discovering these higher risk patients who have evidence of early disease, but are not already taking a statin, is an optimal way to maximise the health outcomes of the TLHC program. This could potentially reduce both cancer and cardiovascular deaths through a single test.

Alan Bagnall and Professor Yitka Graham of the University of Sunderland are championing a digital-first pathway to support and manage patients found to have CAC on their TLHC scans. "We will be working directly with patients and GPs to hear their views on how best to reduce their risk of heart disease and reduce health inequality," says Professor Yitka Graham.

PocDoc is an app-based technology platform that can deliver the full end-to-end cardiovascular assessment pathway, including a quantified, lab-grade 5 marker lipid (cholesterol) lateral flow test with results in their app, in under 10 minutes.

The PocDoc pathway collects all the information needed for a cardiovascular risk assessment, including blood pressure and BMI. The app displays all results, including blood marker values, in a health dashboard with comparison to NHS clinical guidelines.

This pilot will see thousands of patients in the North East be offered a PocDoc test either at home or in a community setting after their TLHC scan. Clinical teams in partnership with Dr Alan Bagnall will access the cloud-based PocDoc dashboard to assess future treatment pathways in real time, including prescription of statins where appropriate.

This pilot builds on PocDoc's current roll out in the North East in partnership with the cardiovascular disease prevention team at the Academic Health Science Network for the North East North Cumbria (AHSN NENC), which is designed to dramatically increase access to cardiovascular assessments at home, at work and in the community in both primary and secondary prevention.

Dr Alan Bagnall, a consultant interventional cardiologist at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Deputy Clinical Director of the CRN NENC, says:

"Because of the shared risk factors of age and smoking, almost all patients in the ground-breaking TLHC program will be at elevated risk of having a heart attack or stroke over the next 10 years. Delivering a digital-first cardiovascular screening of patients who have risk factors and coronary artery calcium is an optimal way to maximise the health outcomes of the TLHC program, potentially reducing both cancer and cardiovascular deaths through a single test and providing NHS England with significant cost savings. We are proud to be partnering with PocDoc to demonstrate the North East's commitment to using innovation to save lives."

Steve Roest, CEO and co-founder at PocDoc, says:

"We are proud and excited to announce our partnership with consultant cardiologist Dr Alan Bagnall and his team at the NIHR Clinical Research Network North East and North Cumbria to pilot the PocDoc pathway for TLHC patients in the North East of England. Each year, the TLHC will find 200,000 people in the UK who are at high risk of a heart attack or stroke but who are not being treated. By providing a quick, easy, convenient and digital-first way to conduct cardiovascular assessments at scale with simple follow treatment, PocDoc can help the NHS deliver even better outcomes from an already highly successful programme."

Available for interview on request:

Steve Roest – CEO & Co-Founder, PocDoc

To book in an interview or for more information please contact: [email protected]

About Cardiovascular Disease:

There are 7.6 million people living with CVD in the UK, and Cardiovascular Disease is a leading cause of premature disability, mortality, and health inequalities, and responsible for one in four deaths each year. 

(https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/contact-the-press-office/facts-and-figures#:~:text=Heart%20and%20circulatory%20diseases%20cause,men%20and%203.6%20million%20women.)

The UK Health Security Agency estimates that the annual healthcare costs in England relating to CVD are around £7.4 billion, with an annual cost to the wider economy of £15.8 billion. 

(https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2019/02/14/health-matters-preventing-cardiovascular-disease/).

Company Chemist Association reference article: https://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/CD136951/CCA-Hypertension-case-finding-service-to-halt-15k-cardiovascular-events-by-2026

About Dr Alan Bagnall and the NIHR CRN NENC:

Dr Alan Bagnall is a consultant interventional cardiologist at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Deputy Clinical Director of the CRN NENC.

Working together with Dr Chris Tasker (GP lead for Targeted Lung Health Checks), Professor Yitka Graham (Head of the Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute, University of Sunderland) and Dr Anna Beattie (consultant cardiothoracic radiologist, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust), they have identified an unmet need for the over 600,000 patients invited to take part in the TLHC program.

Because of the shared risk factors of age and smoking, almost all patients in the TLHC program will have a greater than 1 in 10 chance of developing a heart attack or stroke over the next 10 years.

The real time identification of patients at the very highest risk who have evidence of early disease but who are not already taking a statin is an optimal way to maximise the health outcomes of the TLHC program, potentially reducing both cancer and cardiovascular deaths through a single test.

The mission of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. We do this by:

• Funding high quality, timely research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care;
• Investing in world-class expertise, facilities and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services;
• Partnering with patients, service users, carers and communities, improving the relevance, quality and impact of our research;
• Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges;
• Collaborating with other public funders, charities and industry to help shape a cohesive and globally competitive research system;
• Funding applied global health research and training to meet the needs of the poorest people in low and middle income countries.

NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. Its work in low and middle income countries is principally funded through UK Aid from the UK government.

About the NHS England Targeted Lung Health Check:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-lung-cancer-screening-roll-out-to-detect-cancer-sooner

About PocDoc:

Founded by Dr Kiran Roest, Dr Vladimir Gubala and Steve Roest, PocDoc's mission is to make diagnostic testing as accessible and affordable as possible. The PocDoc platform allows anyone with a smartphone or tablet to test themselves for a range of major diseases and conditions, receive a full health assessment and be offered solutions to address any health-related issues that arise, including real-time prescription of medication and clinical support.

The PocDoc® platform has been designed to work with the company's own set of proprietary, quantitative blood tests which have been developed in house and are focused on preventative disease areas, starting with cardiovascular disease.

PocDoc has a number of NHS contracts, has won multiple Innovate UK awards, an SBRI award and a MedTech Breakthrough Award.

Its technology has CA and CE marks and is patented in Europe and the US.  

www.mypocdoc.co.uk 

About Steve Roest:

Steve is the CEO and founder of PocDoc, where he has raised multiple rounds of private investment, is a multiple time Innovate UK grant award winner, as well as a member of the UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders review board.

Steve is a huge advocate for innovation and pushing boundaries of what is possible with technology. He is passionate about the people and companies who are changing the world, especially in HealthTech and Healthcare.

Steve presents the HealthTech Hour on UK Health Radio which was born from his desire to provide a showcase for companies, leaders, founders, CEOs and clinicians who are genuinely changing the world, leading the healthcare revolution in the UK and beyond. Notable guests include Matt Hancock, Ali Parsa and Jessica Ennis Hill among others.

The show, which has over 60,000 listeners live per week from over 30 countries, with more listening on demand via Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music and Google Podcasts and YouTube, focuses on the unique journeys of each guest, how they are changing the world and how they stay on their mission.

www.healthtechhour.co.uk
https://www.youtube.com/@healthtechhour
https://open.spotify.com/show/5pZb65BCLauYxbJrbzDQfP?si=4229d00f85ec4b84 

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2144279/PocDoc_Health_Check_Pathway.jpg

SOURCE PocDoc