ORCHA approved as a digital marketplace supplier on the government’s G-Cloud 12

As a supplier on the Digital Marketplace, ORCHA’s services can be purchased by any central government, local council, NHS Trust or public sector body

News

ORCHA Approved as a Digital Marketplace Supplier on the Government’s G-Cloud 12

We are delighted to announce that ORCHA’s platforms and services have now been approved on the Government’s Digital Marketplace G-Cloud 12 framework. As a supplier on the Digital Marketplace, ORCHA’s services can be purchased by any central government, local council, NHS Trust or public sector body. Our solutions allow public sector organisations and healthcare professionals to safely unlock the potential of digital health apps.

ORCHA’s services that are available for purchase on the G-Cloud 12 Digital Marketplace include:

  • Local engagement microsites, including tailorable app libraries– In order to drive digital health uptake for populations, ORCHA’s service provides locally branded and tailored microsites. Each microsite features a library of apps that have been evaluated in accordance with ORCHA’s robust Review process, thereby ensuring transparency in terms of data privacy, clinical assurance and user experience. This helps public sector organisations to overcome health challenges in their region by increasing mHealth activation within populations.
  • Professional app recommendation and prescription– ORCHA’s Pro Account service enables clinicians and other healthcare professionals to embrace digital health and increase patient activation. With our Pro Account prescription tool, health and care professionals can find and recommend to patients the safest and most clinically effective health apps to suit individual requirements. As such, ORCHA facilitates the implementation of health and care apps into everyday practice and primary care pathways.

Please find ORCHA on G-Cloud 12 by clicking here, where you can read the full details about the platforms and services we offer as part of our advanced digital health review and accreditation solution.

How to introduce apps into a clinical pathway

Opinion

How to introduce apps into a clinical pathway

Dr Tamsin Brown

Community paediatrician, clinical entrepreneur and ORCHA Paediatrics Specialist Lead

Healthcare professionals provide patients with information to support their understanding, informed choices and management of their condition. However, traditional information channels such as patient leaflets have not fared well in research studies, and many clinicians are now looking to apps as a solution.

There is a clear appetite for healthcare apps, with the market expected to grow to a predicted value of more than $41bn by 2021. With hundreds of thousands of health apps available on App Stores, patients are choosing which apps to download without any guidance, and healthcare professionals have been uncertain about which ones to trust or recommend.

Dr Tamsin Brown, community paediatrician, clinical entrepreneur and ORCHA Paediatrics Specialist Lead, explores this demand in depth and discusses potential solutions, examining the following questions in her latest article:

  • Why consider adding apps to a clinical pathway?
  • What are the barriers to change?
  • Which pitfalls should you watch out for?

The images below are taken from the latest British Association for Community Child Health (BACCH) newsletter.

ORCHA CEO featured in OBI Property’s HealthTech Roundtable


How can HealthTech power the North in a post-COVID world, and how will COVID-19 transform the HealthTech sector?

News

ORCHA CEO featured in OBI Property’s HealthTech Roundtable

The UK HealthTech sector is worth £36bn and COVID-19 means it is more than likely to grow. The sector attracted £6.2bn from global VC investors over the last five years, and employs 127,400 people, a number which is rising.

How can HealthTech power the North in a post-COVID world, and how will COVID-19 transform the HealthTech sector?

OBI teamed up with award-winning journalist Chris Maguire to hold a roundtable made up of a mix of HealthTech start-ups and more established companies in the sector, to explore these questions and form a picture of the future of HealthTech in the North. ORCHA’s CEO, Liz Ashall-Payne, contributed to the roundtable alongside other leading voices in the industry, to discuss the opportunities facing the HealthTech sector, especially in the North.

Read the full report here.

Digital Healthy Schools: welcome back!

Help to support your students with their return to school, focusing on their mental health.

News

Digital Healthy Schools: Welcome back!

Lisa Simmons

Implementation Manager, ORCHA

No doubt you’ve got a lot to do at the moment, so we’re keeping it as brief as possible. But you’ll see from the headlines below that we want to help support your students with their return to school, focusing on their mental health.

In this newsletter:

  • The impact of COVID-19 on young people
  • Supporting your students’ mental health
  • Free access to mental health app WYSA (usually £4.99/month)
  • How to activate your Digital Healthy Schools hub
  • Get in touch

 

The impact of COVID-19 on young people

It’s been a difficult six months for everyone, and you’ve probably had mixed emotions about your return to school. Your students most likely have mixed emotions too, some will be happy to be back but some will find it very difficult.

The charity Young Minds (youngminds.org) has surveyed young people and found that many feel that lockdown has made their mental health worse and that they’ve been unable to access support (click here to read the report). There are many ways to support your students with their mental health, and Digital Healthy Schools is one of them.

Supporting your students’ mental health

Your students may come and speak to you about their issues, or they may not. Either way, Digital Healthy Schools is one way you can offer support. Apps are a great way for young people to access help, advice and resources, but we need to ensure these apps are safe. All the apps on the Digital Healthy Schools App Library have been assessed against over 300 elements across Clinical/Professional Assurance, Data & Privacy, and Usability & Accessibility and are suitable for under 18s.

So, if students ask you for support you can send them an app recommendation via your Digital Healthy Schools account alongside any other support you offer. If they don’t ask for support, or they’re studying at home, but know about your Digital Healthy Schools app finder, they can search for an app themselves.

 

Free access to mental health app WYSA (usually £4.99/month)

We’re pleased to be working with the developers of WYSA to roll out free access to the app until the end of November. If you search for it on your school’s app finder you’ll see it’s our highest rated mental health app.

You can recommend it directly to your students through your Digital Healthy Schools hub. Alternatively, why not mention your Digital Healthy Schools app finder to your students and direct them there to check out WYSA and download it for free. They will need to make sure they click ‘schools’ when prompted to receive the free offer.

Once the free offer is over, your students will still be able to access elements of the app for free.

 

How to activate your Digital Healthy Schools hub

If you’re in Lancashire or Islington, your school can access the whole package for free! Just get in touch using the detail below and we’ll arrange to activate your site.

Not in Lancashire or Islington? Get in touch to find out more about how you can access Digital Healthy Schools.

 

Get in touch

If you have any questions or comments then get in touch.

Email: info@digitalhealthyschools.co.uk

Tel: 01925 606542

Twitter: @DH_schools

Instagram: digitalhealthyschools