EVENTS
value for money case across the NHS is required.
Jonathan Gliddon
The second part of the morning session started with ‘Managed services models in POCT and pathology’, presented by Jonathan Gliddon of Chrystal Medical, who looked at the strategic and operational benefits to pathology services of including POCT in a managed contract. The considerable positive impact offered by standardisation and consistency across a service were highlighted, as was the considerable time savings available as a result of centralised management both of equipment and consumables.
Dr Andy Breakell Lucy Lehane.
diagnostics’. The thorny issue of the ‘value’ of healthcare has been the subject of much debate over recent years and the difficulty in ascribing value to diagnostics is well known. Nick first defined health economics and its main aims, as well as the types of questions it aims to answer for various healthcare system stakeholders (such as funders and commissioners; NHS buyers; and investors); before showcasing the differences between some of the most common types of analysis: cost- comparison, cost-effectiveness, cost- benefit, and cost-consequences were all highlighted and the main features and limitations of each considered. A direct comparison was drawn
between cost-effectiveness models and budget-impact models, with examples given of the strengths of each when looking at a fully economic case, as well as
Ian Davies MBE.
the inclusion of ‘non-cashable’ savings and wider system benefits which are not easily monetised. Nick provided an introduction to the new National Healthtech Access Programme. Previously called the Rules Based Pathway, this is a collaborative approach between NICE, the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, MHRA and the Office for Life Sciences, which expands NICE’s Technology Appraisals programme to incorporate health technologies. This means that like medicines, a small selection of high- impact technologies will be reimbursed and made available across the entire health service. This new initiative was highlighted as a major opportunity for POC services, looking at how new tests could potentially change the pathway, rather than focusing on a per-test cost; although it was warned that the bar for inclusion is high and a very clear
Dr Andy Breakell, a Consultant in Musculoskeletal, Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine, was the next speaker, presenting on ‘Novel biomarkers in health and sport.’ He looked at the latest research and recent understanding of biomarkers across health and fitness, including maintaining health, ensuring correct nutrition and managing injury. Studies highlighted included muscle loss with GLP-1 medicines, exercise-induced hyponatraemia (salt loss), and biomarkers of organ stress and injury measured in participants of the Boston Marathon. The epidemiology of traumatic brain injury was also discussed, including the long- term effects of post-concussion syndrome and identifying biomarkers.
Ahead of a pivotal period for healthcare transformation, with changing roles and
expanding services, the event aimed to focus on the effective provision of point-of-care testing across the healthcare landscape, ensuring quality and governance remain at the heart of delivering optimised patient care
Angela Gore The morning session’s final speaker was Angela Gore, Market Access and Development Manager at BIOHIT, who spoke on ‘Using POCT to Improve Patient Pathways in Gastroenterology’. Current pathways to diagnosing gastro conditions are slow, expensive and currently overloaded, with the additional issue that endoscopy is invasive while offering only a low yield. Angela argued that the pathways aren’t stratifying risk effectively and the introduction of a point-of-care test earlier in the process can save money, reduce unnecessary procedures and diagnose conditions such as atrophic gastritis (a precursor to gastric cancer) much earlier in the pathway. Figures suggest that a new pathway featuring POCT could lead to a significant rise in the five-year survival rate for gastric cancers.
Afternoon session
Ian Davies MBE
The afternoon session began with a very thought-provoking presentation from lan Davies MBE, Associate Professor
June 2026
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