The Tribune

A UK clinic at the forefront of a treatment which uses gut bacteria from a healthy donor to treat patients with a broad range of conditions has set up an operation in the Bahamas in response to a growing demand from North America.

The Taymount Clinic, which has its headquarters in Hertfordshire, 30 minutes from London, has linked up with the Bahamas Medical Centre in Nassau, seizing on the demand for faecal microbiota transplants (FMT) from the United States, Canada and other parts of the world.

FMT is currently the most effective treatment available for clostridium difficile (C Diff).

However, many other countries including the UK and now the Bahamas are utilising the procedure for a number of other conditions.

Many patients currently visit the Taymount Clinic in England to seek treatment for a range of gastrointestinal conditions, such as Crohn’s disease and colitis as well as neurological and other problems.

The clinic is a global leading authority on FMT, which is the process of implanting the beneficial intestinal bacteria from a healthy donor into the gut of a person who is lacking the essential Microflora they need for their gut to function properly.

Gerry Brennan, CEO of the Taymount Clinic, welcomed the partnership as an obvious step.

“We have a sizeable number of patients from the US and Canada flying to London to be treated by us and it made perfect sense to find a location which was nearer home,” he said.

“We are delighted to partner with the Bahamas Medical Centre and this is an important development for the many thousands of people in North America, whose lives are blighted by their debilitating condition for whom FMT may prove effective,” he added.

“We realise we had to do this for the good of many people suffering debilitating conditions who are being faced with difficult choices from mainstream medicine.”

Staff at the Bahamas Medical Centre have been trained to carry out the implants, with the first patient booked in to be treated from August 24, with the centre capable of seeing in excess of 40 people per day for FMT.”

Barry Rassin, president of the Doctors Hospital Health System and Bahamas Medical Centre, welcomed the opening of the Taymount Clinic in the Bahamas.

“There is a great demand for FMT and the Bahamas is easily accessible from the United States and Canada,” he said.

“It is an innovative treatment that has helped many people and the wider medical community is beginning to appreciate the possible significant impact of FMT on a wide range of conditions. This programme ties directly into the mission of Bahamas Medical Centre, which includes a number of innovative treatments to assist patients to achieve a healthy lifestyle. We at the Bahamas Medical Centre are proud to be working with Taymount.”