A browser-based video call platform designed for healthcare communications has has attracted backing from a range of tech industry heavyweights.
Nye Health provides NHS compliant technology to enable remote patient consultations. The firm launched in March to help GPs, doctors and nurses continue treatment while in lockdown.
A range of industry experts have since joined as advisers, supporting the platform – which now covers 10 million patients – as it scales.
Those lending their support include Claire Davenport CEO of notonthehighstreet.com, former COO of Google Europe and Managing Director of Ola UK, Ben Legg, and Former Director of Growth at Skyscanner, Douglas Cook.
Other advisers who are lending their support to the company include Sir Muir Gray, Honorary Clinical Researcher at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, and Dr. Niti Pall, Senior Consultant on mobile health at AXA, President of the International Diabetes Association, and Chair of Well Tech.
Led by GP Dr Alexander Finlayson, Doll Fellow (Green Templeton College) at the University of Oxford, the team behind Nye Health has built and scaled a browser based telephone and video phone system.
The technology, called the Nye Phone, is named after Nye Bevan, the labour politician who established the NHS.
Before COVID-19, Nye was building and deploying capabilities to clinicians to deliver NHS care for patients remotely and make it easier for patients to access, navigate and engage with healthcare.
But as the pandemic reached the UK in March, Nye redeployed their team of former defence engineers, doctors and data scientists to build something specifically to address the impact of the COVID-19 response.
The software, which can be accessed by all NHS clinical staff, enables NHS-compliant phone or video based appointments to be held from any device, regardless of location.
Since launching in March, the tech has been taken up by hundreds of GP practices and healthcare settings across the UK and has since scaled up to cover 10 million patients.
The software has also been used on acute wards to help patients without smartphones contact their relatives via video call.
It is also being used by the clinical teams at the University of Oxford to help researchers and participants from the coronavirus vaccine trials stay connected throughout the process.
Claire Davenport, CEO of notonthehighstreet.com said of the firm: “The work they are doing with the Nye Phone is making a significant, valuable impact to the lives of clinicians and patients. In the long term, this progress will be taken forward to enable kinder care to flourish across our communities and I’m delighted to be supporting their journey towards that goal.”
Dr Alexander Finlayson, added: “From the outset of this crisis, myself and my team were determined to ensure that every single clinician had the tools they need to continue to care for patients.
“Sometimes, the solutions with the biggest impact come from the simplest ideas. I believe that’s why we’ve seen such rapid uptake of our first offering, the Nye Phone. We’re delighted to have the expertise of eminent people from the tech community including Ben Legg, Doug Cook and Claire Davenport guide our growth and ensure we can support the NHS as effectively as possible during this crisis and beyond.”