Medway NHS Foundation Trust to Transform Local Gestational Diabetes Screening by Offering World-First Home Oral Glucose Tolerance Testing (OGTT) Technology to All At-Risk Women

Digital clinical diagnostics and diabetes home testing provider Digostics and Medway NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), announced today a partnership that will see the Trust become the latest maternity services provider to extend new remote oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) to all expectant mothers who are at risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

The collaboration will involve the full implementation of GTT@home, the world’s first commercially available home use oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), and the only alternative to traditional clinic-based testing.

GDM currently impacts up to 20% of UK pregnancies(1), with background risk factors including the body mass index, age and ethnicity of the expectant mother.  Undiagnosed or untreated, GDM can lead to complications during pregnancy including premature birth, preeclampsia (which causes high blood pressure) and increased growth of the baby.

Professor Ranjit Akolekar, Consultant in Fetal Medicine and the Trust’s Medical Director of Women’s Care, said: “GDM risks are reduced if the condition is detected early and well managed so it’s really important that we make testing as easy as possible for all at-risk women.
“Traditional testing requires the expectant mother to travel to a scheduled hospital appointment and have two separate blood tests two hours apart. However, appointments may be missed due to the time required to complete the test, or unforeseen circumstances. Hospital space is also required to host the clinics as well as maternity, phlebotomy, laboratory and clerical staff time at different stages of the test.
“ GTT@home allows pregnant women to carry out the test at home, at a time that is convenient to them, meaning the test can be carried out without delay, treatment can be started earlier and managed if gestational diabetes is detected to help keep both mum and baby safe, and precious NHS staff and resources are freed up saving both time and money.”

The OGTT is the gold standard in diabetes detection and the only recommended test for diagnosing GDM. It is undertaken between weeks 24 and 28 of gestation or earlier if the mother has received a positive diagnosis in a prior pregnancy. With GTT@home, women assessed as needing an OGTT by their midwife will receive a test kit in the post containing everything they need to complete their OGTT remotely.  The test kit includes the novel GTT@home test device, finger prickers to provide blood samples, a preformulated glucose drink and test instructions.

Previous pilots of GTT@home have contributed to greatly improved test accessibility, with all women being tested within their target test window, high scores for test kit and device usability and universal preference from expectant mother and maternity staff users alike.

James Jackson, inventor of GTT@home and Chief Executive and founder of Digostics which makes the remote test, said: “We are thrilled to work with Medway NHS Foundation Trust to offer home gestational diabetes screening to all at-risk women under their care.
“Prior trials, together with multilingual provision for non-English speakers, gives us a high level of confidence that we can reach and screen key patient groups through GTT@home.
“Because the test device analyses both blood samples immediately, the technology also eliminates the risk of sample degradation that can occur between sampling and laboratory analysis with clinic-based testing, leading to missed cases of GDM.”

Extensively user-tested guidance is given in the form of simplified instructions and device visual and audio cues.  The test is also complemented by video guides, website test FAQs and 6am to 6pm, 7 days-a-week online and telephone support. Non-English language versions of the test kit and supporting media are also available to ensure full inclusivity and maximise test uptake.   On completing the test, the user can instantly share their test data with their care team for review using the near field communication functionality (NFC) within the GTT@home test device and their mobile phone, via the GTT@home mobile application.

Kate Harris, the Trust’s Associate Director of Midwifery and Ambulatory Gynaecology, said: “Our aim is to embrace digital technology so we can provide high quality care. The introduction of GTT@home is helping us to achieve this as our community midwives, who would have managed the workload associated with the traditional clinic-based test, can now focus more of their time and expertise on other critical areas of antenatal and postnatal care.”

Patient groups most at risk of developing GDM are disproportionately represented in those missed by clinic-based screening programmes. The partnership will also see the two parties collaborate on research designed to further improve gestational diabetes screening and deliver new insights in the management of diabetes in pregnancy.

Claire Rosten, Innovation Manager for Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex, said: “Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex are delighted to provide innovator support to companies like Digostics which have a focus on improving the lives of women. Collaborations such as these will help ensure better health outcomes for women, improve access to care and make a real difference to health equity,”

About Digostics

Far too many people across the world are living with undiagnosed diabetes.
UK-based Digostics' mission is to enable healthcare providers to identify everyone with diabetes, and those at risk of developing diabetes, by eliminating the common barriers that inhibit accurate and timely testing using the gold standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).
Digostics is proud to offer GTT@home - the world’s first home OGTT offering and the most accessible and scalable way for clinical teams to realise their diabetes testing objectives.

About Medway NHS Foundation Trust

Medway NHS Foundation Trust is a single-site hospital Trust based in Gillingham, Kent serving more than 427,000 people across Medway and Swale. 
It provides clinical services to more than half a million patients a year, including approximately 180,000 attendances to its Emergency Department, more than 87,000 admissions, more than 345,000 outpatients’ appointments and more than 4,600 babies born last year.
As an NHS Foundation Trust, it has 26 seats on the Council of Governors and more than 6,000 public members. The Trust employs more than 5,000 staff, making it one of Medway’s largest employers. In addition, over 300 volunteers provide invaluable support across the League of Friends, Hospital Radio and the Voluntary Services Department.
The Trust is made up of five divisions – Cancer and Core Clinical Services, Central Operations, Medicine and Emergency Care, Surgery and Anaesthetics and Women, Children and Young People.
The Board of Directors, led by Chair John Goulston, comprises seven executive directors including Jayne Black, Chief Executive, and nine non-executive directors including the Chair.

About Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex

Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (Health Innovation KSS) is one of the 15 health innovation networks across England, established by NHS England in 2013 in partnership with the Office of Life Sciences to improve health and generate economic growth by spreading innovation at pace and scale.
We connect citizens, NHS and academic organisations, local authorities, the third sector and industry to facilitate change across whole health and social care economies.
We have a clear focus on ‘transforming lives through innovation’.
Health Innovation KSS covers the whole of Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Our impact comes from our ability to bring people, resources and organisations together, delivering benefits that could not be achieved alone.