Digital NHS glaucoma device wins AbbVie innovation award

A tool that allows patients to independently detect raised intraocular pressure associated with glaucoma has been selected as one of AbbVie’s inaugural ‘Patients as Partners’ award winners.

Icare HOME is a hand-held tonometer (a device that measures the internal pressure of the eye) that requires no eye drops, air or specialised skills to operate. It has been made available to patients of the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Giving patients the ability to test intraocular pressure in their own homes means fewer hospital admissions and disruptions to day-to-day living, as well as a greater chance of effective interventional treatment.

The device was picked as the winner of the ‘Enabling patients with technology’ category and the Trust will now receive a £3,000 bursary to spend on conference attendance or research that will benefit the patients and/or the NHS.

“We are delighted to have been listed in the final three and win the category of ‘enabling patients with technology’,” said Karen Cairns, Specialist Glaucoma Nurse at the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. “It is excellent recognition for the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital and the Glaucoma service and team that continually strive to improve patient experience and clinical outcomes and we are very proud to have received this award.”

AbbVie’s ‘Patients as Partners’ awards were announced at the recent ‘Going Beyond Medicine’ conference at the King’s Fund in London and recognise outstanding examples of patient care innovation in the NHS, as part of its wider Sustainable Healthcare Initiative.

“We are proud to recognise the people and organisations that are making a real difference to both patients and the healthcare system in the UK,” said Matt Regan, UK General Manager at AbbVie. “If together we can help the NHS to better support people with long-term conditions, not only will people have better health outcomes, but resources will be better used and the service will make headway towards meeting the funding shortfall.”

The Macmillan Occupational Therapy Team at Heart of England Foundation Trust also won an award, topping the ‘Making health and social care patient friendly’ category for its work in combining health and social care. The South Tyneside Foundation Trust and Gateshead Health Foundation Trust, Gateshead, were also recognised for outstanding achievements in the ‘Supporting individuals to take control of their care’ category for implementation of a pulmonary rehabilitation programme for COPD patients.