A Medical Device Daily

A new generation of National Health Service (NHS) community hospitals has moved a big step closer to opening with the approval of up to £ 750 million in extra funding for the NHS to invest in facilities offering patients more blood tests, X-rays and minor operations outside of large hospitals.

According to UK Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, the new hospitals will offer speedier access to medical checks, day surgery and even after-hours physicians. Other services that the hospitals could provide include care for minor injuries, blood and urine testing, and ultrasound. There also is discussion for community hospitals to be the sites of procedures such as endoscopies and biopsies.

Hewitt said funding would be available to support a variety of projects ranging from converting old acute-care hospitals into community hospitals and renovating existing community hospitals to community based chemotherapy and mobile cancer scans.

Work on building the first new clinics and community hospitals will start early next year.

According to Hewitt, “Community hospitals have for too long been viewed as the poor relation of larger hospitals. This stops today. We will invest £ 750 million over the next five years in the development of a new generation of community hospitals. We are also opening up new sources of cash for small community hospitals, as we look to tackle historic funding shortages. Private companies or public/private partnerships will be encouraged to invest capital into these services for the NHS to buy.“

In a move to prevent the NHS rushing through unnecessary closures of community hospitals, the department also issued new guidance advising the NHS to involve patients and the public when planning changes to services.

Hewitt said, “Our guidance will give patients more choice and a louder voice when it comes to NHS community services. We expect the NHS to consult local communities when developing their plans for care outside large hospitals.“

Barbara Moore, chief executive of the Community Hospitals Association, said, “The additional funding will assist many local communities to realize their aspirations to create or update buildings to accommodate local services that are as diverse as the communities they serve. The CHA also welcomes the commitment to prevent unnecessary closures of community hospitals.“

Cosmetic counters to get skin-imaging devices

Procter & Gamble (P&G; Cincinnati) said it plans to place SIAscope skin-imaging devices from Astron Clinica (Cambridge, UK) at Olay counters in several countries this year, enabling consumers to increase their understanding of what makes their skin look younger.

For the first time, consumers at retail will be able to observe what is happening beneath the surface of their skin, and learn how their skin's outward appearance is directly affected, Astron Clinica said.

The Olay Skin Tone Analysis System, powered by Astron's SIAscopy technology, will be used as a counseling tool at the point of sale for consumers who are shopping for skin care products.

SIAscopy enables those in the medical, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries to visualize up to 2 mm beneath the surface of the skin using both a hand-held scanner and a digital camera. Users include dermatologists, plastic surgeons and in Australia, general practitioners.

Astron Clinica said use of the system would give women the opportunity to see beneath the surface of the skin on their face and compare it to the skin on their inner forearm, an area seldom exposed to the rigors that faces are exposed to. The comparison will help show the damage that the face has suffered through time, sun and other environmental factors.

Originally used for the early identification of malignant melanoma, the SIAscope (SIA standing for Spectrophotometric Intracutaneous Analysis) allows observation of the skin below the surface, mapping the condition and distribution of melanin, hemoglobin and collagen.

P&G researchers have been working with SIAscopy in the laboratory as a research tool for several years, and wanted to adapt the technology so that consumers could benefit.

Hemopure application made in UK

Biopure (Cambridge, Massachusetts) said it has submitted a marketing authorization application (MAA) to the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for Hemopure [hemoglobin glutamer-250 (bovine), or HBOC-201], the company's oxygen therapeutic.

Biopure is seeking MHRA authorization to market the biologic in the UK for the treatment of acutely anemic adult orthopedic surgery patients less than 80 years of age.

Hemopure is an intravenously administered pharmaceutical consisting of stabilized bovine hemoglobin formulated in a balanced salt solution. It is ultra-purified, compatible with all blood types and stable for three years without refrigeration.

The MAA contains reports of pre-clinical studies and clinical trials of Hemopure, including new analyses of existing data from a 688-patient Phase III orthopedic surgery trial conducted in the U.S., South Africa, Europe and Canada and from a 160-patient Phase III general non-cardiac surgery trial conducted in South Africa and Europe.

The application also contains a database of all completed trials, including data for about 1,500 total subjects, of whom more than 800 were administered Hemopure. The MAA also describes the post-approval clinical experience with Hemopure in South Africa, where the product is indicated for the treatment of adult surgical patients who are acutely anemic.

If UK marketing authorization is granted, the company said it may seek registration of Hemopure in other member states in the European Union through mutual recognition procedures.

Biopure is developing Hemopure for a potential indication in cardiovascular ischemia, in addition to supporting the U.S. Navy's efforts to develop a potential out-of-hospital trauma indication.