Emma Whittington - (Class of 2005)
Giovanna Forte - (Class of 1981)
Our Peezy Midstream urine collection system invented by my brother Dr Vincent Forte (Worth 1980) has taken on a higher level of interest for the medical profession with the release of new research revealing that urinary tract infection is the cause of nearly 50% of Gram-negative blood infections, which can lead to sepsis and worse. The need to reduce broad spectrum antibiotics and tackle antimicrobial resistance has also become a huge issue.
All of a sudden there is a great deal of interest in our Right-First-Time urine collection device that can help deliver huge improvements in patient safety; NHS adoption may now be closer than we thought. When you consider there are 65 million urine samples delivered to the NHS annually and that nearly 1 in 4 are unreliable the picture becomes clearer. Accurate urine collection could save the organisation around £1.2bn in reduced retests and resources. Because microbiology work is increasingly privatised and paid on volume not quality of results, some key labs have been reluctant to consider reducing retests because they will make less money. All of which has made NHS penetration harder than it should have been.
Meanwhile, thanks to our trade body (the Association of British Healthcare Industries), we are opening for business in Texas and six surrounding States. We have also been invited to provide 2,000 Peezy Midstream kits for a Clinical Trial with the US Military. With FDA listing and US stock in transit to a warehouse just outside Chicago, we are in good shape to start supplying US Healthcare Providers. Interestingly their immediate response to Peezy Midstream is aligned to targeted antibiotic prescribing, tackling antimicrobial resistance.
Suffice to say that if the US market takes off in coming months, Dick and I will set up home in Austin, Texas for a year or two, to make sure it happens seamlessly and successfully.
Our next devices on the drawing board - and in one case already prototyped and ready for trials with novel liquid biopsy cancer tests - will be developed too, giving us a beautiful portfolio of products called The Specimen Collection.
These are exciting times! The Old Cornelian SUMMER 2017
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Herd of the Hospice was a major, free, public art installation and the first of its kind in the area. Hospice in the Weald filled Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks with life sized horses designed and decorated by local artists and kindly sponsored by local businesses. The Herd of the Hospice Auction was held on the 11th October at the Royal Victoria Place Shopping Centre. It was a fabulous occasion, raising substantial amounts for the Hospice.
We were delighted to include the work of current Mayfield girl, Ashley Shen in the auction whose horse, ‘Steam Punk’ picture below, raised over £4000 for the charity.
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