Annual Report and Accounts 2012/13 - Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital

1. Our Year
Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust
Annual Report and Accounts 2012/13
19
New technology to speed up
infection diagnosis
The RD&E was the first hospital in the
South West to trial a new microbiology
machine called MALDI-TOF (Matrix
Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization).
There are just nine of the MALDI-TOF
machines in the UK which can analyse
and identify up to 200 infections every
two hours using laser technology to
map key pathogens found in samples.
The microbiology team manages more
than 200,000 samples a year for the
RD&E hospitals, GPs and community
hospital services. Typically, samples
arrive in our microbiology labs where
bacterial cultures are developed on
agar plates. This process can take up
to 48 hours to complete. The new
facility allows us to make a diagnosis
in a fraction of the time, thus enabling
clinicians to provide far more targeted
antibiotic treatments which in turn
help patients to make a quicker
recovery and return home.
Young Healthcare
Scientist of the Year
Dr Tim McDonald was named the
Young Healthcare Scientist of the Year
for his work which transforms diabetes
screening in young people.
Clinical Biochemist Tim was presented
with his award by the then Secretary
of State for Health, the Rt Hon Andrew Lansley CBE, and Chief Scientific
Officer at the Department of Health, Professor Sue Hill OBE, at Westminster
Hall in London. Thousands of children and young people will benefit from
his innovative work. Tim developed a urine test which can help identify
the two per cent of young people with a type of diabetes called MODY
(Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young) that results from a single faulty gene.
Importantly, the treatment of this type of diabetes may involve tablets instead
of lifelong insulin injections. Genetic testing can give a definitive answer but
is too expensive to use to test all children with diabetes. Tim has developed
a non-invasive screening test that can identify children most likely to have
MODY and who can therefore be selected for genetic testing. Tim, who
works at both the University of Exeter Medical School on the RD&E Wonford
hospital site and the clinical chemistry laboratory, worked out how best to do
the diagnostic test and created a test kit for the diagnostic assessment.