Welsh health tech start-up Concentric has gained £350,000 in funding.
The platform supports patients faced with the possibility of surgery to make shared decisions with their clinicians.
It has also digitising the current paper process and is predicted to save health boards money – both through reduced medical negligence costs and avoiding unnecessary operations.
Co-founded by Carmarthen-born surgeon Dafydd Loughran, the company operates out of Tramshed Tech, home to the tech, digital and creative industries in the centre of Cardiff, where Innovate UK also has a Wales base.
“At Concentric, we’re hoping to drive healthcare towards data-driven, shared decision-making,” said Dafydd.
“We want to support decision making around what matters to the individual, and use technology to deliver insights into what the outcomes are likely to be for that individual.
“This funding will allow us to scale up from a pilot at Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust across interested Welsh health boards and internationally.”
Dafydd studied Medicine at Cardiff, followed by surgical training in Wales.
Prior to Concentric, he undertook an artificial intelligence fellowship at Babylon Health in London, and brings that expertise to the expanding health technology ecosystem in Wales.
He’s joined at Concentric by co-founder Edward St John, an NHS and academic surgeon, and an expanding software engineering and user experience team.
Edward added: “As a clinician I’m excited to be delivering a world-leading evidence base to support patients.
“Published evidence demonstrates that patients engaged in shared decisions often make less invasive decisions, leading to both better outcomes aligned with their priorities, and projected savings of up to £11.6bn a year across the NHS.
“For health boards, Concentric allows the consent process to go paperless, with an audit trail of the discussions held and decisions made.”