Feedback Regulatory News (FDBK)

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Feedback plc

Feedback Medical to offer Bleepa to assist Coronavirus response

● Feedback Medical and Pennine pilot study paused to evaluate a wider rollout to support the local COVID-19 response at the Pennine NHS Trust

● Bleepa® enables medical staff to review imaging studies and discuss cases remotely while they or colleagues self-isolate during the Coronavirus outbreak

● Bleepa® selected for the Top 100 UK Digital Health Firms by Healthcare UK at the Department for International Trade (DIT), and has been included in a catalogue 100 offerings being championed to the NHS by South East Health Technologies Alliance (SEHTA)

London, 26 March 2020: Feedback Medical Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Feedback plc (AIM: FDBK, "Feedback" or the "Company"), the specialist medical imaging technology company, today announces that it will provide Bleepa®, Feedback's flagship imaging-based communication platform as a tool to assist coronavirus response.

Owing to the immense workforce pressures facing the clinical frontline at this time, Feedback and Pennine NHS Trust have elected to pause the Bleepa pilot, which was focusing on evaluating specific clinical workflow applications of Bleepa, and are now evaluating options for a wider rollout to support the local COVID-19 response at the Trust. It is hoped that this solution will subsequently be rolled out to other centres.

Tom Oakley, CEO of Feedback plc, said:

"The Coronavirus outbreak has created a unique and highly pressured situation for the NHS and other healthcare providers. At this time it is vital that clinicians who may be forced to self-isolate are provided with a tool that will allow them to continue supporting care delivery to colleagues who remain on the frontline. Imaging is such a core component of delivering effective care that any remote working solution will need to deliver access to quality images and there is no better tool to do this than Bleepa®."

The current Coronavirus outbreak has led to a significant increase in the volume of critical medical imaging studies, with chest X-rays and CT scans being key aids to diagnose and manage patients with Coronavirus. In addition to Radiologists, other frontline clinicians will take a central role in reviewing the growing Coronavirus caseload. As the outbreak develops these individuals will increasingly need to review cases from home and emergency and routine workflows will have to adapt as NHS staff themselves increasingly become home-based as self-isolation grows.

Home-based image review and case discussion at this scale requires a new infrastructure and a secure bespoke imaging solution which is capable of scaling to meet these demands. Bleepa® is designed for exactly this purpose and overcomes the problems associated with trying to scale traditional VPN-based remote access solutions to hospital software.

Bleepa® is a secure image-based communication platform which provides access to clinical grade medical images and facilitates instant messaging based case discussion through a zero footprint application. Bleepa® can be accessed from any internet connected device including phones, tablets, laptops and desktops; clinicians can use their own devices and therefore no additional hardware is required.

Any medical imaging investigation can be seamlessly shared through Bleepa® to the entire clinical team, even if those teams are geographically separated or having to work remotely. Cases can be discussed through secure instant messaging and image annotation, allowing comments and decisions to be communicated instantly between team members. Importantly, during the outbreak, Bleepa® can enable case review by clinicians at other hospitals where multisite communication is needed.

Bleepa is able to support care delivery in other healthcare systems internationally and in recognition of this Bleepa has been selected as one of the Top 100 UK Digital Health Firms by Healthcare UK at the Department for International Trade as part of their international offering of UK companies that could support with coronavirus response overseas. Bleepa has also been included in a brochure of 100 company offers compiled by the South East Health Technologies Alliance which is being shared with NHS Trusts as solutions that can help in the COVID-19 response. It is hoped that these offerings will help to highlight the ability of Bleepa to support healthcare providers both within the NHS and internationally. Insofar as it is possible, Feedback intends to offer Bleepa for free for the duration of the coronavirus outbreak.

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About Feedback plc - www.fbk.com

Feedback plc (AIM: FDBK) is a specialist medical imaging technology company providing innovative software and systems, through its fully-owne trading subsidiary, Feedback Medical Limited. Its products advance the work of radiologists, clinicians and medical researchers by improving workflows and giving unique insights into diseases, particularly cancer. 

Feedback has launched BleepaⓇ, a new secure, encrypted medical communication app for clinicians accessible through smartphones, tablets and desktops that facilitates rapid clinical messaging and review of medical grade imaging for all members of a clinical team, directly from a hospital Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS). For more information on BleepaⓇ, see www.bleepa.com.