Heriot-Watt University support to improve the lives of stoma bag wearers

That this House welcomes the invaluable support of the Medical Device Manufacturing Centre (MDMC) led by Heriot-Watt University in enabling start-up company Confidence Plus Ltd to introduce its new product ConfiPlus to a clinical setting as quickly as possible; notes that ConfiPlus has been developed to address the common problem of stoma bag leakage which leads to significant embarrassment and anxiety for stoma bag wearers; understands that one in every 400 people in the UK undergoing a surgical procedure has a stoma bag to create an opening in the body to discharge waste and that this new invention is specifically designed to contain leakages which helps to restore confidence and independence to all stoma bag wearers; notes that ConfiPlus is the first company in Scotland to use the new tool, developed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to prepare a healthcare technology assessment document; further understands that the MDMC at Heriot-Watt offers free support to SMEs, as a way of supporting healthcare innovation in Scotland and beyond; and hopes that ConfiPlus will help transform the lives of millions of ostomate patients throughout the world.