eConsult Health acquires video consultation platform Q doctor

Online triage provider eConsult Health has acquired video consultation and SMS platform Q doctor.  

The acquisition follows eConsult securing a £7million investment from Gresham House Ventures and Calculus Capital in October 2020 to fuel expansion into the secondary care market.

eConsult allows patients to electronically submit their symptoms or requests to their own GP and its eTriage platform, purpose-built for urgent and emergency care, is currently in use at nine hospitals including Worthing and St Richards in Western Sussex.

Meanwhile Q doctor supplies nearly 500 GP surgeries. It has also gained a foothold in both urgent and emergency care and out-patients at sites across the UK, including an STP wide contract in Lincolnshire.

The acquisition will bring together digital triage, video and SMS together in a single platform for GPs and hospitals.

Q doctor’s founder and chief executive Dr Chris Whittle has been appointed to its executive leadership team, with his team to officially become part of eConsult.

Dr Murray Ellender, chief executive of eConsult, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Chris and the Q doctor team into the eConsult family.

“By extending our offer to include video and SMS we are continuing to deliver on our mission to support the UK’s hard-working GPs who are under great pressure at the same time as improving access for patients across the country.”

Whittle added: “After nearly two years of successfully partnering with eConsult to deliver our combined service to GP surgeries across the country, this decision was a natural and exciting one – as it gives our customers a much stronger, combined offering. Murray and the team share our core values and our determination to transform digital healthcare.”