Chest pain is one of the most common reasons for 999 calls for an ambulance, averaging approximately 2,000 daily cases in England. It is a common symptom for patients who are having a heart attack but can also be present in other conditions, some of which may not be life threatening. For example, something as simple as indigestion may cause very similar symptoms to a heart attack.

Currently it can be difficult for paramedics to accurately determine whether a patient suffering from chest pain is having a heart attack. The Chest Pain Diagnosis project aims to improve care for patients receiving an emergency ambulance response for acute chest pain by providing paramedics with access to a point-of-care test for a biomarker called Troponin that is released when a patient is having a heart attack. The results of this test (and other clinical observations) will be input by paramedics into a computerised decision aid called T-MACS which calculates the probability that an individual’s symptoms are caused by a heart attack. This innovative way of working will enable paramedics to accurately identify patients that are suffering from a heart attack, allowing them to receive earlier, more personalised treatment when they arrive in hospital.

Through this project, the longer term aim is to have a positive impact in reducing unnecessary ambulance services whilst ensuring rapid response for those who need them and giving safe reassurance to people across Greater Manchester. Evidence has shown that Greater Manchester has one of the worst rates of premature death from cardiovascular disease in the country and this initiative could help address this inequality.

This programme is delivered as part of a series of projects that looks to address Greater Manchester’s major morbidities for the Advanced Diagnostics Accelerator (ADA), part of the Health Innovation Accelerator. The Health Innovation Accelerator has been established to rapidly improve the diagnosis and treatment of disease across the 2.8m Greater Manchester population.

Partners:

The Chest Pain Point-of-Care-Testing project is delivered by Health Innovation Manchester in partnership with:

• Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) (Innovate UK partner)
• North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) (Partner)
• Siemens Healthineers (Co-investor)
• Mind Field Advertising (Innovate UK partner)
• By Gamers for Gamers Ltd (Innovate UK partner)
• Apadmi (Innovate UK partner)
• The Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire Cardiovascular Strategic Clinical Network

The Health Innovation Accelerator

The Health Innovation Accelerator encompasses two projects, the Advanced Diagnostics Accelerator and the DEVOTE programme, delivered through a partnership between Health Innovation Manchester, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), The University of Manchester, and industry partners.

This project is part-funded by the Greater Manchester Innovation Accelerator programme. Led by Innovate UK on behalf of UK Research and Innovation, the pilot Innovation Accelerators programme is investing £100m in 26 transformative R&D projects to accelerate the growth of three high-potential innovation clusters – Glasgow City Region, Greater Manchester and West Midlands. Supporting the Government’s levelling-up agenda, this is a new model of R&D decision making that empowers local leaders to harness innovation in support of regional economic growth and help attract private R&D investment and develop future technologies.