Pitchfest finalist named in NHS Innovation Accelerator 2021 cohort

A Digital Health Rewired Pitchfest finalist has been named one of 12 start-ups appointed to the NHS Innovation Accelerator for 2021.

The Innovation Acceleration (NIA) supports innovators to scale their solutions across the health and care service in England.

This year 12 start-ups that offer “solutions to some of the NHS’ most pressing needs” were selected. They will receive support from the NIA over the next three years.

Feebris, a Digital Health Rewired Pitchfest finalist in 2020 and 2021, was among the innovations selected.

The app helps carers to identify health risks and deterioration remotely. It guides a carer through a 10 minute check-up, including capture of vital signs from connected medical-grade sensors.

It then uses artificial intelligence to augment clinical guidelines and personalised monitoring to help decisions on triaging health issues.

Professor Stephen Powis, chair of the NIA and national medical director for NHS England and NHS Improvement, said: “After a year like no other for the NHS, the importance of innovation has never been more clear.

“From the way we deliver services to how we support the health and social care workforce, innovation has proven critical to ensuring we remain able to care for NHS patients and staff effectively and efficiently.

“The 12 innovations joining the NHS Innovation Accelerator in 2021 meet the needs of the NHS at this critical time and will be supported to scale across England for even greater patient benefit.”

This year the NIA sought innovations that address key priorities including supporting the workforce, mental health and Covid-19 response.

Each innovation chosen as part of the sixth cohort to join the NIA was selected by a range of experts from NHS England and Improvement, NHSX, the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellent (NICE).

The NIA has supported the uptake of 74 evidence-based innovations across more than 2,475 NHS sites.

This year’s cohort include:

• AcuPebble SA100: a wearable CE-marked medical device able to accurately and non-invasively diagnose sleep apnoea from the patient’s home
• Brain in Hand: a digital innovation using coaching principles and practical support to help people living with anxiety and other neurodevelopmental conditions
• Cyted: a digital diagnostic infrastructure to provide services for the earlier detection of disease through proprietary machine learning
• Definition Health: a digital pre- and post-op communications tool between hospital and patient, providing the first end to end journey for surgical patients in the UK
• Feebris: a mobile-based software platform powered by AI that helps users (clinical or non-clinical) to detect and triage respiratory deterioration remotely
• Infinity Health: a digital platform on which health and care staff log, share and coordinate their daily tasks in real-time, replacing paper-based manual methods
• KiActiv: a mentor-guided digital service that empowers people to make sustainable behaviour change in the context of their health, capacity and environment, without the need to visit gyms or clinics
• Little Journey: a smartphone-based health behaviour modification tool that provides end-to-end support for families to reduce children’s anxiety before a healthcare procedure
• MUTU System: an at-home online programme of exercises to help women heal and strengthen from pelvic symptoms and associated mental health concerns post-baby
• Oxford Medical Simulation: providing clinical experiences on demand through the use of virtual reality so doctors and nurses can practice caring for virtual patients whenever they need to
• Oxehealth: a contact-free vision-based patient monitoring platform for use in hospitals (mental health) and nursed facilities
• Vinehealth: a digital platform that uses behavioural science and AI to improve the quality of life and survival of cancer patients through highly personalised patient support

The Digital Health Rewired Pitchfest will be running throughout Rewired (15-19 March). Get a flavour of Rewired 2021 from the video below. You can book your place here