Natalie Nunes
Consultant Obstetrician Gynaecologist, Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Chelsea Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Biography: Natalie is a clinician passionate about quality of women’s healthcare, patient experience and digital solutions. She is the West Mid lead for the Early Pregnancy Unit and aims to improve the experience for clients experiencing early pregnancy loss or complications.
Horizon Fellowship project summary: The Eirene Project: EIRENE – usE of vIrtual Reality hEadsets iN outpatiEnt manual vacuum aspiration. After a pregnancy loss that has not yet passed, women have the option of waiting for it to pass naturally, using medication to initiate it passing, or to have a procedure to remove it. This procedure can be done under general anaesthetic or using local anaesthetic. While they may wish to avoid theatre, some women find it less tolerable than others. Virtual Reality headsets have been shown to reduce pain scores and the wish is that the use of them during these procedures will reduce pain and improve experience during this difficult time.
Estimated number of patients / staff impacted by the project: Staff: 8, Patients: 20-30 / year
Goal(s) for time on the Horizon Fellowship programme: Natalie aims to gather more skills to launch more projects, evaluate them and extend the benefits to other parts of women’s health.