NHS launches revolutionary DIY heart monitor in national first to slash waiting times and 'double productivity'

Unlike traditional equipment that requires patients to be connected to multiple wires and monitors in a clinical setting, this system allows patients to conduct tests from home.

The trust's pioneering approach could transform how cardiac conditions are diagnosed across the NHS, potentially easing pressure on services plagued with long waiting times.

The device takes the form of a small patch that patients attach directly to their skin.

After wearing it for several days, users simply post it back to the hospital, eliminating the need for appointments to fit and remove equipment.

Once returned, artificial intelligence technology analyses the data collected by the monitor. This automated assessment generates a report that is subsequently reviewed by a physiologist or doctor.

The streamlined process aims to move away from traditional Holter monitors, which require trained physiologists to attach them in hospital settings.

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There is currently a shortage of these specialist staff members, making the new system particularly valuable, the trust said.

The device is able to investigate various cardiac conditions, including atrial fibrillation, tachycardia and heart blocks. Dr Iain Sim, consultant cardiac electrophysiologist at Frimley, praised the new technology's practical advantages.

"It is smaller and more convenient, rather than different wires all over the place," he said. "We're able to reduce our turnaround times for reports and to get results back to patients faster."

The trust confirmed it would continue using traditional Holter monitors for certain hospital patients.

However, the new postal system offers a more efficient alternative for many cases, particularly given current staffing constraints in cardiac physiology departments.

The new system has dramatically increased clinic efficiency at Frimley as Suzanne Jordan, associate director for medicine at the trust, raved about the change's impact on patient throughput.

"If you think of the bigger picture, it means that we're going to be able to manage our patients quickly," she explained.

"We've been running clinics by seeing maybe 30 patients in one day, whereas before, we were probably seeing 14 maximum, so we've kind of doubled our productivity."

More than 7.6 million Britons live with heart and circulatory diseases in the UK, the British Heart Foundation reported.