Innovation and technology are crucial to enhancing care across Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust, enabling it to deliver high-quality, personalised, and more efficient care in the face of rising demand, workforce pressures, and financial constraints.
We are committed to helping to support the introduction of medical technology that can be life-enhancing. For example, we hope to help Kingston Hospital introduce Personal KinetiGraph (PKG) for people living with Parkinson’s or movement disorders. Worn like a watch, the PKG tracks movement throughout the day. It records tremors, stiffness and involuntary movements, while also reminding patients when to take medication. It gives doctors a detailed view of how symptoms change between visits, helping fine-tune treatment so patients experience better control, more independence and an improved quality of life.
In clinical studies, PKG data led to changes in treatment plans in nearly eight out of ten appointments, empowering patients to take a more active role in managing their condition and improving conversations with their clinicians.
A gift of £175 could fund one PKG wearable device and its software licence – we’re looking to pilot an initial 50 over a 12-month period.
We also want to help the hospital’s physiotherapy team to utilise VALD Performance Technology. VALD provides precise, objective measurements of strength, balance and movement, helping physiotherapists see how patients are progressing and adapt treatment to their individual needs. It can identify issues earlier, make rehabilitation more effective, and allows patients to track their own progress with physiotherapy.
A larger donation could help us towards the purchase of VALD ForceDeck and DynaMo which costs approximately £19,000.
We also need help to develop the NHS trust’s robotic assisted surgical programme. Charitable support has been successful in acquiring its first Da Vinci Xi robotic surgical system, which represents a significant advancement in modern surgical care. The benefits over open and laparoscopic (key hole) techniques include: fewer post operative complications; reduced length of stay in hospital post operatively; less risk of infection during surgery; less blood loss and fewer blood transfusions during surgery; less pain; faster recovery period, with patients able to resume normal activities sooner; and surgeons being able to perform operations that, due to the improved range of motion and dexterity, would be very difficult to do without robotic assistance.
To support the development and roll out of this programme, including the training of surgeons in robotic assisted surgery, there is a need to secure a second console to enable safe, hands-on training and mentoring by allowing a trainee and an experienced trainer/ proctor to operate within the same robotic environment, in real time. There are several benefits of operating with a second console, including:
If you would like further information on development of the robotic assisted surgical programme, please contact Rob Aldous on 020 8973 5040 or by email at r.aldous@nhs.net. Thank you.
