Manchester cardiac innovation collaboration recognised at national awards

A project to evaluate a portable, highly sensitive, rapid point-of-care testing device in Greater Manchester ambulances, has been recognised nationally at the 2026 Advancing Healthcare Awards.

The test detects the presence of troponin in a patient’s blood, which is a chemical biomarker that is released when heart muscle is damaged during a heart attack. This enables clinicians to accurately determine if a patient is having a heart attack or if the symptoms are due to a less serious condition such as indigestion or anxiety.

Currently this test can only be performed in a hospital, when a patient with a suspected heart attack arrives in the Emergency Department.

The device was piloted in a collaboration involving Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NWAS), The University of Manchester (UoM), Health Innovation Manchester (HInM) and the manufacturer of the test, Siemens Healthineers Ltd.as part of Greater Manchester’s Health Innovation Accelerator which was set up in 2023 to rapidly improve the diagnosis and treatment of disease in the region.

The ‘Greater Manchester Pre-Hospital Point of Care Troponin Pilot’ was highly commended in the category for ‘best collaboration across clinical, academia and industry’ at the ceremony.

The device enables paramedics to measure troponin levels inside ambulances at the scene within minutes. This could enable patients who are having a heart attack to be taken directly for life saving treatment at a dedicated heart attack centre,

while low-risk patients could safely avoid being taken to hospital and instead receive follow-up care in a more suitable setting.

Widespread adoption of the test could save lives, ease pressure on emergency departments and reduce the need to transfer patients to specialist centres – freeing up ambulances to respond to other life-threatening incidents.

Post-pilot evaluation estimated that around 29,700 chest pain patients each year in Greater Manchester could benefit from more appropriate care pathways, and around 13,900 people could potentially avoid an unnecessary ambulance journey to hospital.

A cost-benefit analysis carried out by Health Innovation Manchester estimated that using the test across Greater Manchester could save the NHS around £1.1 million per year, mainly through reducing unnecessary hospital activity.

The pilot was developed and clinically led by Rick Body, Professor of Emergency Medicine at MFT and UoM, and implemented at NWAS by Phillip Jones, Innovation Consultant and Advanced Practitioner.

Rick Body, Professor in Emergency Medicine at MFT, said: “This was the first UK implementation of blood testing for heart attacks in ambulances. Setting this up was an incredible achievement by the team as the logistical challenges were considerable. The success of this project paves the way for further work that could transform emergency care, providing much better care for patients while relieving burden on stretched ambulance services and emergency departments.”

The pilot ran from July 2024 to December 2025, operating out of three Greater Manchester ambulance stations. Finger-prick blood tests were carried out at 638 call-outs on patients who had dialled 999 with heart attack symptoms by 74 trained paramedics.

Phillip Jones, Advanced Practitioner at North West Ambulance Service, said: “This pilot was an amazing collaboration, with each partner bringing insight and expertise. At NWAS, our clinicians who took part in the pilot – testing patients, gathering information, and giving feedback on the ground – were vital to its success. This work will lay the groundwork for the next stages of pre-hospital Point of Care Troponin testing.  There is still lots to do, but in time, point of care testing could potentially speed up treatment for the thousands of patients who experience cardiac chest pain.”

Post-pilot evaluation found that pre-hospital troponin testing is feasible and shows promise. Recommended next steps include carrying out further research with ambulance services to confirm that using troponin testing to change patient pathways is clinically safe and improves outcomes.

The Advancing Healthcare Awards celebrate innovative practice by allied health professionals, healthcare scientists and support teams across the UK. The Awards commendation recognised the high level of collaboration and healthcare innovation central to the project. 

Specialist staff across MFT supported the collaboration, including project management support from Dr James Corden, Innovation and Intellectual Property (IP) Lead and Jessica Righart, Biomedical Scientist and the Point of Care Testing Coordinator, who both attended the ceremony on behalf of MFT.