Despite recruiting, Babylon Health’s GP at hand still on hold in Birmingham (UK); CEO steps down at rival Push Doctor

August 23, 2018 | by

GP at hand, Babylon Health’s NHS app and service for scheduling patients with local GPs, was expected to roll out in Birmingham, but the Hammersmith and Fulham CCG, from which Babylon operates, continues to halt its the expansion since the beginning of this month on patient safety concerns.

The app, which schedules patients with GPs and requires registration that effectively changes what we in the US call ‘attribution’, was set to add GP surgeries in Birmingham starting this month and was setting up an HQ at Badger House, an out-of-hours GP services provider based in Birmingham’s inner city. GP recruitment had started, according to Pulse, in late July. Patients would register in Babylon’s host practice Dr. Jefferies and Partner in southwest London through NHS’ out-of-area registration scheme.

The objections to Babylon’s expansion came initially from Paul Jennings, the chief executive of Birmingham and Solihull CCG. According to Digital Health, “he wrote to Hammersmith and Fulham to lodge a formal objection to the expansion. He argued the digital service was “not yet robust or tested for a national service to be delivered from a single practice outside of Birmingham”. Hammersmith and Fulham then stated that “further information is required to provide assurance on the safety of patients” before the Birmingham roll-out could be approved. 

This is despite the release of a equality impact assessment by Verve Communications on behalf of Hammersmith and Fulham finding mainly positive results, such as GP at hand “more likely to address most barriers than traditional GP services” in 10 out of 11 protected groups” and that “carers may benefit from [the] use of GP at Hand as this will allow them to consult a primary care practitioner whilst continuing with their care responsibilities.” The new Health Secretary Matt Hancock, a major advocate of technology in care, is himself registered with Babylon. Mobihealthnews

(If you are in the UK, you can hear it straight from Babylon’s CEO Ali Parsa, interviewed by Roy Lilley of nhsmanagers.net, on 10 September at the RSM.)

Rival telemedicine service Push Doctor is also undergoing changes with CEO and co-founder Eren Ozagir’s departure. It appears that he and the board had a difference around company direction, with the board recommending a cut of 40 jobs (Sunday Times). Their COO, Wais Shaifta, became acting CEO in July. In June 2017, a report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found the service to be delivering unsafe care via antidepressant and blood thinner prescriptions being given without requisite blood tests and monitoring. Digital Health

Will Matt Hancock be a refreshing change for NHS? Or another promise unfulfilled? (updated)

July 26, 2018 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/matt-in-a-binder.jpg” thumb_width=”200″ /]Matt In A Binder? With the sudden departure of Jeremy Hunt from the Department of Health and Social Care in the Cabinet’s ‘change partners and dance’, the new Secretary of State Matt Hancock comes over from heading Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. A couple of weeks in, it can be determined that he is a big advocate of technology and looking forward, not back (which Mr. Hunt spent a great deal of time doing):

Technology has a proven ability to radically change the world for the better – be it in finance, in education and in transport. But nowhere does technology have greater potential to improve lives than in healthcare. (Statement on Gov.UK/Health Service Journal 12 July )

And he glows again about increasing the use of apps within the NHS, though Digital Health goes a little overboard in calling the Rt Hon Mr. Hancock ‘app-happy’ even though he’s built his own this year so that his West Suffolk constituents can keep track of his activities. 

In his maiden speech, Mr. Hancock promoted a drive to replace pagers with smartphone apps as part of a £487 million funding package and connecting Amazon Echo with the NHS Choices website. It was overshadowed by a seeming walking back of the 95 percent four-hour A&E treatment target. Telegraph

Much of the criticism comes from those who see his appointment as yet another step in the privatization and regional devolution of the NHS due to campaign donations from the chair of pro-market group the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). However, Mr. Hunt faced the realization that NHS trusts are $1.2bn in debt and sought workarounds such as adoption of an ACO-type model (which in the US has a strong element of public incentive) and increased use of private health insurance to cost-shift. He wasn’t a technophobe, having inked a deal with the UK Space Agency to repurpose space tech for health tech and funding innovators in this conversion up to £4 million–which can be said to be ‘out there’.

Mr. Hancock also announced this week the £37.5 million funding of three and five ‘Digital Innovation Hubs’ over the next three years. These will connect regional healthcare data with genetic and biomedical information for R&D purposes.

Will he last? Will there be positive changed fueled by technology? Will the May Government last? Only time will tell.

What are your thoughts? (If you’d like to post anonymously, write Editor Donna in confidence)

Here’s select opinion from across the spectrum:

Don’t be fooled, Matt Hancock will be no better for the NHS than Jeremy Hunt was (The Independent)

New health secretary Matt Hancock received £32,000 in donations from chair of think tank that wants NHS ‘abolished’ (The Independent)

Roy Lilley’s always tart take on things NHS extends to the new Secretary dubbed ‘No18’. A deft wielding of Occam’s Razor and a saber on reflexive phraseology such as ‘driving culture change’ (it can be cultivated not driven–this Editor agrees but the tone and structure need to be set from the top), dealing with suppliers, and the danger of creating an electronic Tower of Babel due to lack of interoperability. (Does this resonate in the US? You bet!) (See NHSManagers.net if the link does not work.)

Margaret McCartney: Health technology and the modern inverse care law (BMJ) — to paraphrase, that the greatest need for healthcare is by those least likely to have the right care at the right time available. She points to Babylon Health, which counts Mr. Hancock as a member, as not only unproven, but also not needed by those able to afford other options. (But didn’t we know that already?)