BT’s Etc. to scale preventative remote care initiative in North of England

Etc., the digital and startup incubation hub of BT Group, has scaled up its preventative remote care initiative in the North of England, which will see 238,000 patients benefit from efforts to prevent, detect and manage cardiovascular disease.

This will be the second phase of the initiative for Etc. and will be delivered with support from NHS Cheshire and Merseyside. Phase one has already seen an estimated 30 potential events be prevented with the scheme deployed to 1,090 patients across seven GP surgeries in Northwest England. Following its success, Etc. is proceeding with a wider rollout.

It will now be rolled out across 26 GP practices to 228,000 patients based in Warrington, Cheshire. It is estimated that as a result over 80 strokes and heart attacks will be prevented over three years by helping shift the NHS’s approach to care from reactive to preventative.

Neal Herman, director, Etc. Health at BT Group, said: “We are rolling out the initiative organically. We’ve gone from a practice, to a PCN and now to a group of PCNs. I think we’ll see this pattern continue, as we grow into neighbouring areas.”

The Etc. solution is delivered via a platform for clinicians, enabling them to monitor patients remotely and also allowing patients to upload their vitals and biometrics from anywhere through an app.

The company estimates that its proactive solution could help save £1.5 million in healthcare costs over the next three years. It will also support the NHS’s Long Term Plan, which outlined its ambition to prevent 150,000 strokes, heart attacks and dementia cases over 10 years.

The company is focused not only on preventative care, but also early detection, through its smartphone app. Dan Bunstone, GP, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said: “The Etc. application is simple by design. Healthcare can be mystifying. Where do you go to get a single version of the truth? That’s clinically validated, gives you the right advice and you know that doing that thing is going to benefit your health?”

Herman added: “We’re about reimaging people’s relationship with their health. We don’t want them to just contact the system when they’re ill, we want them to be self managing their conditions. We want to move towards early detection, it’s where the application is going. It’s a natural evolution. We don’t just want to talk to at-risk patients, we also want the no risk patients to be engaged.”

The second key message from Etc. Health is about amplifying the power of the clinician. Through the company’s tools it is aiming to make better use of the resources that are available when there is only a limited number of clinicians.

Talking to Digital Health in May last year, Herman stated: “Our purpose is to invest in adjacent opportunities to the core BT business of connectivity. Our mission is about connecting people to the right care at the right time, and whatever activity we do ladders into that.”