Steve Brine stressed the importance of supporting local businesses this week, as he welcomed Life Stream Healthcare to the Commons.
Patient waiting lists are a major issue within the NHS. Winchester and Salisbury-based company Life Stream has developed a potential solution: a live video linking device, allowing hospitals and surgeons to quickly decide treatment for NHS patients suffering with heart conditions. The new technology could reduce surgery waiting times by a third.
In front of an audience of MPs and senior officials from the Department of Health, Life Stream, a local start-up company with a ‘life-changing’ product, joined some of UK’s top cardiologists, radiologists, and surgeons to present the product at the House of Commons.
Steve said: “I was delighted to be able to host this remarkable local company in the House, and I know that colleagues and officials from the Department of Health were hugely impressed. This technology brings exciting times ahead, not only for Life Stream, but for the NHS who I hope will take advantage of this excellent product.”
Streamed over a secure high quality video, Life Stream enables cardiologists and surgeons to collaborate remotely and share patient images and videos of medical and surgical procedures in real time. With increasing pressures on clinicians to deal with a greater number of cases per year, this time-saving – and life saving – process allows critical patient diagnosis at the click of a switch.
Professor Roger Boyle, National Director for Heart Disease and Stroke Vascular Programme, at the Department of Health, was present at the event and said: “Life Stream is an innovative new device that will enable patients to get the right choice of treatment, quickly. There is a huge waste of beds in hospitals, with people waiting for decisions to be made. It should not be underestimated how important new technology like this is to advancing healthcare in the UK.”
Life Stream has been trialled in several hospitals across the country and is effective even in areas with little internet signal. Kate Willmer, consultant cardiologist at West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven, has tested the device. “When a patient comes to see me with a heart problem, I have to communicate their symptoms to a surgeon via letters and post CDs showing footage of tests I have run. It can often take weeks to communicate what action, if any, needs to be taken on this patient. When you are dealing with critical illnesses, time is precious. This new system enables me to speak directly to the surgeon in a matter of hours.”
Inventor John Cooper, who developed the Life Stream technology from his tele-visuals business in Salisbury, said: “In tough economic times, local businesses are forced to work harder to promote their products, but we have a device that will make a real difference to patients with heart conditions. The system could also be used for patients suffering with cancer, neurological issues or strokes; it’s the future of communication in the NHS. I am very proud to have developed something that will have such a great impact to people’s lives.”
Following its strong reception in Westminster, Life Stream now seeks further support from local health officials to get the technology into hospitals across the country.
Pictured; Steve hosts exciting local company Life Stream in the Commons
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Find out more via www.life-stream.co.uk/