good news30 Mar 2011 10:24
Deltex Medical jump 50 percent as NICE recommends CardioQ for use in NHS
8:50 am by Jamie Ashcroft
NICE estimates that CardioQ saves the NHS £1,100 per patient, per hospital stay.
Deltex Medical’s (LON:DEMG) lead product, the CardioQ-ODM system, may now be used on 837,000 surgical NHS patients each year in England.
CardioQ avoids invasive cardiovascular monitoring, it comprises a monitor and a single-patient disposable probe which is placed into the oesophagus through either the mouth or the nose with the tip of the probe positioned so that it is close to the descending aorta. The speed of blood travelling down the aorta is then measured by using a low-frequency ultrasound signal.
This morning Deltex told investors the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) - the NHS spending and efficiency watchdog - has extend its recommendation on the CardioQ.
The news sparked a flurry of early trades that saw the stock soar over 50 percent. At 9:00 am Deltex shares were up 9.875 pence, 49.4 percent, changing hands at 29.875 pence each.
NICE estimates that CardioQ saves the NHS £1,100 per patient, per hospital stay. It recommends that CardioQ should be used in "patients undergoing major or high-risk surgery or other surgical patients in whom a clinician would consider using invasive cardiovascular monitoring".
Deltex chief executive Ewan Phillips said: "NICE's final guidance is a resounding endorsement for the CardioQ-ODM at a time when the NHS is charged with delivering £20 billion of efficiency savings over the next four years.
“Implementing this guidance in full would be a significant step towards the NHS delivering these savings while improving considerably the care given to those patients undergoing major and high risk surgery.”
In its recommendation NICE said there is a reduction in post-operative complications, use of central venous catheters and in-hospital stay when the CardioQ is used, compared with conventional clinical assessment with or without invasive cardiovascular monitoring