Highly commended
From Overlooked to Innovative: Turning an Underfunded Service into a Model of Innovation
Summary of work
Historically, obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) care in the UK has been fragmented. Patients endured life-limiting symptoms like breathlessness and fainting. They travelled long distances for appointments and were limited to symptom-modifying treatments. Through the launch of mavacamten, we seized an opportunity to catalyse a transformational care pathway across inherited cardiac condition (ICC) services and beyond. Our initiative transcended mere treatment introduction: we fostered a coordinated, scalable, national approach. Over two years, we built deep relationships with ICC healthcare professionals (HCPs), catalysed shared-care models with non-specialist hospitals, and amplified access via outreach, hybrid learning, and peer-led “meeting in a box” toolkits. This empowered non-ICC cardiology teams to collaborate effectively in hubs and spokes, mitigating geographical disparities. Outcomes were striking: centres treating ICC patients expanded from 1 to 43 in two years; echocardiography service availability grew significantly; clinical confidence surged; and the proportion of unstable patients without the opportunity to change treatment more than halved. Most profoundly, patients have resumed their favourite hobbies (from playing the bagpipes, to 5-a-side) underscoring the human and systemic impact this transformational approach has brought to the NHS. This initiative exemplifies genuine care pathway revolution; far beyond prescribing, reshaping delivery and enabling equitable access to life-changing therapy.
Judges’ comments
BMS and Lucid’s entry had a clear approach, which was well thought through and evolved over time to reflect developing use of the product, learnings from use, and to incorporate different audiences/stakeholders. It had very impressive results across all objectives, including a shift from one centre treating HCM patients to 43 - a significant change in treatment patterns.
