Matt Hancock was appointed as the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care back in July, earlier this year. Since his transition into his new role, Mr Hancock has made a conscious effort to push his ideal version of a stronger NHS into Government and into the public sphere.
Not only does Mr Hancock believe that technology is the way forward for the NHS, but also that self-care is an extremely important asset to have amongst the UK population – two ethos’ that are shared by Kegel8.
Last month, Kegel8 wrote to Mr Hancock, congratulating him on his new role and raising awareness of how our small company shares his great values.
Kegel8's Letter to Matt Hancock:
25 October 2018
Dear Matt Hancock,
Firstly, the team at Kegel8 would like to offer you many congratulations on your appointment as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in July. Your speeches that specifically regard making technology a key factor for NHS improvement really resonates with our business’ ethos.
Kegel8 provide the UK’s leading clinically proven and medical pelvic floor exercising devices that give you the strength to live your life again, in as little as 12 weeks. Developed in the UK by a team of experts, Kegel8 has over 10 years proven success and expertise.
Incontinence is the unintentional passing of urine or bowel matter. 50% of the female population will experience urinary incontinence at some time in their lives, and it also affects 1 in 4 men. Urinary incontinence and urinary problems cost the NHS over £26 million per year. Dealing with incontinence costs the NHS around £80 million per year solely in product costs. These include absorbent products, such as incontinence pads or pants, catheters, and handheld urinals. Furthermore, these products are not even considered as treatment methods for urinary incontinence, rather they are used to help manage the condition. Currently, sanitary protection products make up 15.3% of the total disposable paper products market, and over 620,000 women buy over 25 of these products per month.
More often than not, women are told to pad the problem until surgery is necessary. However, the NHS could avoid these unnecessary costs by focusing on educating healthcare workers about the benefits of conservative treatments, such as neuromuscular electrical stimulation. One of our customers, Michelle, is one of the women who tragically underwent a vaginal mesh procedure. She has had multiple surgeries to correct the mesh problem which have resulted in even worse symptoms than she originally had. Michelle tried the Kegel8 Ultra 20 Electronic Pelvic Toner as her last hope before opting for further major surgery. After using the device for only 5 weeks, Michelle reported that her stress incontinence had improved hugely, wishing that she’d tried it before her original surgery.
Currently, our Kegel8 Vaginal Cones are listed on the NHS Drugs Tariff Part IXA-Appliances. These weighted vaginal cones show a 70% success rate with stress incontinence in clinical trials. We are further working on adding our Kegel8 Ultra 20 Electronic Pelvic Toner to the drugs tariff, especially for those who have trouble exercising their pelvic floor muscles.
If we can help resolve the number of incontinence issues across England using our Kegel8 devices, the NHS can expect huge savings in their expenditure on incontinence. Not only will it help to lower the expense spent on disposable incontinence products, but if patients are toning their pelvic floors alongside treatment, the NHS can also expect a drop in the number of patients who are admitted to hospitals for treatment of incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and some forms of pelvic pain.
We believe that contributions of digital technologies and their effective use within society are a vital part of a successful NHS and are delighted that you will be able to forefront technology as one of your early priorities in your new role. Our company are here to help you and we hope you will be able to involve us in the formation and delivery of the long-term plan for the NHS.
Thank you for taking the time to share our company’s philosophy and perspective on a brighter, efficacious health and social care system.
Yours Sincerely,
Stephanie Taylor
Managing Director
