• A baby receiving care in Bolton’s Neonatal Unit has benefitted from a ground-breaking test
• Genedrive rapidly tests whether babies could go deaf after being given certain antibiotics
• November 2024 saw the first positive test come back allow for a change in prescription

A baby receiving care in Royal Bolton Hospital’s Neonatal Unit has become the first to benefit from a ground-breaking gene test which aims to prevent lifelong hearing loss.

Royal Bolton was one of the first hospitals to go live with the cutting edge Genedrive System, which uses a cheek swab to rapidly detect potential genetic mutations which can cause permanent hearing loss in babies when they are given aminoglycoside antibiotics.

The system means babies admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with sepsis are rapidly tested and given an alternative antibiotic if they are positive, avoiding a lifetime of deafness.

In November 2024, the programme saw its first instance where a positive test came back, allowing for a change of planned prescribed antibiotics.

Jamie Osborne, Principal Biochemist and Point of Care Testing Clinical Lead at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said:

Advancements in technology are enabling us to drastically transform the care we’re able to provide to some of our most vulnerable patients.

“These interventions are already helping our babies avoid lifelong hearing loss, transforming the lives of patients and their families.

“We’re incredibly proud of the technology and that Bolton is amongst the first sites in the world to adopt it. The work we’re doing here will be critical to ongoing technology assessments by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

The Genedrive System, funded as a pilot study by Health Innovation Manchester, was developed in partnership with Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.