DigitalHealth.London launches new Accelerator programme to support cohort of health businesses

Sep 15 2016

We are excited to announce the launch of the very first cohort of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme, on 12 September 2016.

The pioneering, year-long Accelerator programme, the first major programme of DigitalHealth.London, will provide in-depth knowledge of the NHS to a cohort of 32 high potential small and medium digital health businesses (SMEs) as they adopt and refine their innovations – to improve the lives of patients and the efficiency of the NHS and wider healthcare sector.

Among the innovative businesses selected to be part of the first cohort is Sense.ly, a mobile app offering a virtual nurse, which uses artificial intelligence to guide patients through their health query 24/7 – directing them to either a 111 clinician, or to schedule a GP appointment, locate clinical services, or get medical information and advice. MumoActive is a diabetes tracking tool, enabling people with type 1 or 2 diabetes to track their key health metrics, including sugars, medicines, insulin and carb intake, to really take ownership of their health, while DrDoctor is an appointment management tool facilitating communication between the hospital and the patient – letting patients choose their appointment times and complete digital assessments to avoid unnecessary extra visits.  

A dedicated team of skilled Digital Health (NHS) Navigators will work alongside the SMEs, helping them engage with healthcare experts, to understand and respond to the needs of the market and gain first-hand advice on products in development.

Jenny Thomas, Accelerator Programme Director, said:

We’re delighted to welcome our very first Accelerator cohort and look forward to working with them closely over the next year. This is a completely new and innovative programme – the first of its kind in London – that works by engaging with businesses, the NHS and wider healthcare sector, to close the gap between product development and the uptake of new solutions within hospitals and other healthcare settings. We believe that our unique approach has the ability to help businesses engage with the NHS in the most efficient way.

With ever-increasing pressures on health and care services, our ambition is to speed up the adoption of innovations at scale, ensuring that greater numbers of patients benefit from emerging new technology, more rapidly.

The companies we will support frequently talk about how complicated it can be to navigate and engage with the NHS, particularly finding the ‘right person to talk to’. We believe – and lots of the companies have told us – that the Accelerator has the ability to change this, and we are delighted to be giving our first cohort the chance to work with the NHS in a completely new way.

Professor Keith McNeil, Chief Clinical Information Officer at NHS England, said:

Digital innovation has the power to directly enhance patient care, improve the sustainability of our systems and transform the way people access NHS services and manage their own health. We are already seeing the benefits to patients and NHS staff as we harness the potential of smart technology and we are investing hundreds of millions to move faster in realising such benefits across the entire health and social care system.

The 32 companies that make up the 2016 – 17 Accelerator programme cohort are: 11 Health & Technologies Ltd, Affigo, Breaking Free Online Limited, Circular Wave Limited, Cinapsis, Club Soda Limited, Cupris Health, DefinitiveDX, DrDoctor, Healthlogistics Limited, Helicon Health Limited, Inhealthcare, iPlato Healthcare Ltd, LiveSmart UK Ltd, Lumeon, MedicaliQ, Medopad, Meedoc, MedShr, Molecular Warehouse, mumoActive, myrecovery, Now Healthcare Group, OurPath, Oviva, Perfect Ward, Physitrack, Propeller (part of Selfless), Revere Care, Sense.ly UK, SIME Diagnostics and Written Medicine.

119 excellent companies initially competed for a place on the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme on the very first 2016 – 17 cohort, and a group of over 60 senior NHS, commercial and technical experts assessed each company’s business credibility and the likely benefit their innovations could deliver at a pan-London level.

The DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme launch event, at which the 32 chosen companies will be officially announced, takes place on Monday 12 September 2016 at the Digital Catapult on Euston Road, London. The event is by invitation only.