MedTech innovation transforms women's health
WOMENS HEALTH INNOVATION
How resistance to basic preventative practice and innovation is damaging women’s health and fuelling antibiotic immunity in the female population and the unborn.
*(1)
• One in three women will have a UTI by the age of 24
• One in ten women see their GP at least once a year for a UTI
• 20-30% of patients do not get better with initial antibiotic treatment
• Up to 70% of patients experience a repeat UTI within a year
Preventative practice in the most overlooked area of female medicine is being ignored to the detriment of millions of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) sufferers. The biggest problem behind untreated UTI is the lack of protocol for the collection of clean-catch specimen, leading to failed diagnosis and treatment, chronic pain, days off work and misery for millions of women.
All national guidelines recommend clean-catch for routine investigations of UTI and antenatal urine screening.
Blood and urine have diagnostic parity, yet the lack of a collection standard for urine leads to a national variation in contamination from 1% to over 70%, with an average of 20%. Not only does this discrepancy lead to millions of unnecessary UTI episodes endured by women every year, but those that remain untreated can develop a life-changing, chronic condition which can wreck lives.
• If this disparity in specimen quality existed for blood specimens, would it be tolerated?
• If failure to promote accurate first-time treatment existed for any other condition, how would we react?
• If UTI were common male complaint, would it remain as overlooked as it is for women?
A simple intervention that ensures accurate clean-catch urine was developed by Dr. Vincent Forte, NHS Family GP for 25 years. He noticed women returning to his surgery for UTIs he believed he had treated with the recommended empirical prescribing.
His investigations led to the laboratory, where microbiologists explained that the urine samples received at the lab were often contaminated with flora and bacteria from the skin, creating a growth that masked the problem bacteria. Clear identification of problem bacteria is essential for the prescribing of a targeted – and more effective – antibiotic.
The Urethra Moment
In response to this common and unaddressed problem, Dr. Forte designed Peezy Midstream. The device now has a body of excellent clinical evidence, a NICE MedTech Innovation Briefing Paper and is growing in use across the NHS. At just 83p it is predicted to save around £75m in retests alone. Much greater savings can be accounted for by the removal of false-positive samples from the laboratory pathway and reduction of unplanned hospital admissions especially amongst the elderly [see editor’s notes below].
“Peezy Midstream abolishes the mess and indignity of giving a urine specimen,” says Dr. Forte. “There’s no splashing or mess. You end up with a very clean midstream urine sample which is what laboratories want. The benefits are a reduction in contamination of the environment making the workplace a safer place for everybody, reduction in the contamination of urine specimens making sampling more accurate and saving the NHS money (3). Finally, and most importantly we make women happier and give them back their dignity.” (4)
A body of evidence generated by Peezy Midstream clinical trials points to:
• Improved right-first-time diagnoses for Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
• As low as 0% contamination and up to 70% reduction of false-positives
• Targeted prescribing keeping women away from the more common broad-spectrum antibiotics that can stimulate Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
• Unnecessary prescribing for pregnant women can be detrimental to their health and that of their unborn child (5)
Primary Care patients in Wales will soon benefit from Dr Forte’s innovative intervention; Peezy Midstream is on the cusp of introduction across the Welsh Primary Care System after trials showed a significant reduction in repeat tests, false-positive tests, prescribing – and a 66% reduction in lab spend by GP surgeries. (2)
“Urine samples are used to diagnose a broad variety of conditions and for accuracy it is vital that the samples are not contaminated,” says Louise de Winter, CEO of The Urology Foundation. “Research indicates that the Peezy Midstream specimen collection device can lead to more accurate readings and reduce the need for repeat tests, delivering a significant time and cost saving for the NHS.”
The HealthTech innovation dilemma
“Innovations such as ours struggle to gain acceptance because of a reluctance to promote the work of private companies that serve the health system,” says Giovanna Forte, CEO of Forte Medical. “Yet ‘miracle’ drugs and procedures and the companies that make them are readily named often before their efficacy has been validated. Rogue breast implants and vaginal mesh have done irreparable damage to women.”
Innovation designed to improve women’s health suffers from an anomalous attitude from the largely male world dominating the sector. In the words of two male professors leading a specialist institute for women’s health “this is not a priority.” T
Meanwhile, the Royal College of GPs is averse to advising its members on improved practice in case they “promote” a device or company: “Our concern is that the method to collect urine safely can only be done utilising your device, therefore we feel it may point to promoting your product.”
Now is the time for women to demand Best Practice for their own good health.
END.