Healum wins NHS contract for patients at risk of CVD

Healum has won an NHS contract to scale the use of its integrated care planning software and patient-facing self-management app, to support patients at risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Why CVD matters

Cardiovascular disease is the single biggest condition where lives can be saved by the NHS over the next decade:

• There are 7.6 million people living with CVD in the UK.
• It is a leading cause of premature disability, mortality and health inequalities, and is responsible for one in four deaths each year (British Heart Foundation).
• The UK Health Security Agency estimates that the annual healthcare costs in England relating to CVD are around £7.4 billion, with an annual cost to the wider economy of £15.8 billion.

The contract

Healum has been awarded a significant contract by the NHS to scale the use of its integrated care planning software and patient-facing self-management app across Cheshire and Merseyside, London, and Lancashire and South Cumbria, an area that covers 8.5 million patients.

It supports multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals working in primary care to implement personalised care and support strategies for patients at risk of cardiovascular disease.

How it works

Healthcare professionals using Healum’s care planning software and connected mobile app will be able to reduce the pressure on their workforce, empower their patients and improve health outcomes, by collaboratively creating personalised care plans with patients identified as at risk of cardiovascular disease.

The care plans are linked to the GP health record and combine clinical and non-clinical recommendations, as part of a shared decision-making process that involves staff from across each practice:

• GPs
• Nurses
• Pharmacists
• Healthcare assistants
• Health and wellbeing coaches
• Social prescribing link workers

Patients at risk of cardiovascular disease will be able to access their personalised plan of care and support from their GP practice through a mobile app. It enables them to proactively manage their health through:

• Daily actions
• Educational articles and videos
• Information on services in their community

Built on research in the North West

The contract comes off the back of research and development carried out across Cheshire and the North West of England by Healum in partnership with Vernova CIC. It was supported by the National Institute for Health Research Greater Manchester team and evaluated by Dr Adrian Heald, Clinical Research Fellow at Manchester University and Consultant Endocrinologist at Salford Royal Foundation Hospital.

This contract enables Healum to expand the NHS partners in its research consortium to include Howbeck Healthcare and Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Integrated Care Board, and to increase the number of GP practices that can access its solution.

Additional support from Innovation Agency North West and Health Innovation Network will enable Healum to shape its programme of real-world testing and health economic analysis, to demonstrate impact for patients, healthcare professionals and the system as a whole.

About the award

The contract has been awarded by the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC), a partnership between patient groups, government bodies, industry and the NHS hosted by NHS England, through SBRI Healthcare.

It marks a renewed focus on tackling CVD by improving current prevention strategies through data and personalised approaches, and by empowering patients to manage their own conditions through targeted engagement and support. The AAC has awarded a small number of contracts to the most innovative companies in the UK that can have the biggest real-world impact within the NHS system for cardiovascular disease.

“These awards will help the NHS to develop new technologies and solutions to address some of the biggest healthcare challenges facing society. We have selected these innovations because they have the potential to make a big difference to patients. By supporting the most promising innovations the NHS will continue to evolve, helping meet more patients’ needs and encouraging more innovators to come forward with ideas that make a difference.”

Matt Whitty, CEO of the AAC

“Empowering people each day to make healthier choices through access to personalised proactive care wherever they are and whenever they need lies at the heart of our vision. This NHS contract is a validation of our evidence to date, the value of our product and its potential to impact the lives of millions of people. We look forward to working with our partners in the NHS to ease the burden on primary care and to improve outcomes for patients across the UK.”

Jonathan Abraham, CEO of Healum

Read the full release from SBRI Healthcare