Introduction
Wellbeing Enterprises CIC is a social enterprise organisation that provides support to people who are experiencing practical, social, and emotional difficulties. Each year it supports almost 5,000 people of all ages in Halton, Knowsley, St Helens, Warrington, and Wigan to improve their wellbeing.
Specialising in person and community centered health approaches, the organization puts social prescribing at the heart of its work. People undergo holistic assessments of needs and strengths and are supported to co-create Personalised Wellbeing Plans to move forward with their lives. It connects people with a broad range of one to one and group activities that help people to build confidence, form friendships and learn new skills. This includes everything from drumming and yoga lessons, to walking clubs and wellbeing courses.
Looking holistically at the people it supports, the team at Wellbeing Enterprises wanted to extend the range of self-help resources available.
After seeing the ORCHA product range commissioned by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, it identified that a Digital Health Formulary of safe and effective apps across a range of health and wellbeing conditions would be a useful resource. Particularly as it provides assurance that the apps have been assessed for clinical and technical standards assurance.
The Formulary would provide its staff with a single platform where they could find the organisation’s preferred health apps across a range of conditions, and safely recommend one to a client by email or text message. Furthermore, the team knew that all apps featured would be continuously checked by ORCHA to ensure they meet standards.
This would be available to all staff, but in particular its wellbeing social prescribing team, who are well placed to recommend apps during a face to face and telephone support calls.
Solution
Wellbeing Enterprises worked with NHS Cheshire and Merseyside to create a set of folders within the Digital Health Formulary, designed just for the needs of its staff.
Informed by ORCHA’s in-depth assessments of 20,000 digital health technologies, and led by Bethany Harrison, Senior Wellbeing Link Worker, the Wellbeing Enterprises and Cheshire and Merseyside team worked with ORCHA to create a short list of preferred apps to support the common health and wellbeing concerns seen by the social enterprises’ clients.
Once selected, the apps were included within named folders in the Digital Health Formulary, to allow all social prescribing staff to quickly and accurately find the best app for every client.
Training in digital health and the ORCHA system was delivered to all staff. This ensured everyone feels confident recommending apps to clients and understands how they fit into the organisation’s client support pathways. This training was then followed by regular updates and tips.
Results
The Formulary has made a big impact on the social enterprise and its clients, especially among its core social prescribing team and clients. Its staff regularly take the top spots in ORCHA’s list of ‘most active health app advocates’ in the country.
Since its introduction in January 2023, the Formulary has seen 10,000 sessions and more than 35,000 page views.
Last month alone, nine people in its core social prescribing team recommended 83 apps to people. Given NICE evidence indicates that each downloaded app saves the NHS £93 in costs, that is a positive story.
This year so far, we estimate around 700 apps have been downloaded from the recommendations sent by the Wellbeing Enterprise Team. Based on the NICE evidence, this means a saving for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside from this team alone is in excess of £65,000.
Lynn Swift, Services Manager at Wellbeing Enterprises said “We’ve enjoyed working with the ORCHA Team to collate health and wellbeing apps into a Formulary that patients and the public tell us they want and need. The feedback has been positive. It is also reassuring to know that the apps in the Formulary are reviewed by clinicians and technical experts giving assurance of safety and quality”.
Notes
Wellbeing Enterprises is a trailblazing health and wellbeing social enterprise based in the NW of England. As one of the first Community Interest Companies (CICs) in the UK, its mission is to help everyone live happier, healthier, longer lives. It does this by educating and supporting people, mobilising assets and resources in communities and working with partners to tackle the underlying causes of poor health. www.wellbeingenterprises.org.uk
NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board looks after the NHS spending and performance across a region home to 1.7million people.
One of the biggest challenges facing the Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership is managing the growing lists of patients waiting for access to treatment and care. So as part of its Recovery in Primary Care Plan, it has been working to improve the outcomes and experience for patients with planned appointments or interventions, focusing on prevention and management of long-term conditions.
The team identified that health apps can offer convenient and effective ways for people to improve their health whilst waiting for surgery, in preparation days before surgery, then to speed recovery and improve condition management after discharge.
To uphold consistent clinical standards, the team wanted a specific set of apps for each target area. They wanted to know that ach app meets clinical, data and security standards, and decided that less complicated, low risk apps would achieve a higher recommendation rate from clinicians and adoption rate by patients.
Solution
The Board already had a working Health App Library provided by the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps (ORCHA), giving its public a source of safe health apps across a wide variety of health conditions. So, it asked the team at ORCHA how this platform could be utilized to actively put the right apps in the hands of the right people at the right time. To target those waiting for surgery or for those wanting to manage and maintain their long-term health and well-being needs.
As part of its big update at the start of 2023, knowing a Health App Library needs to be as relevant to an audience as possible, ORCHA enabled the Library to be highly configurable. One such feature is its ability to easily add a dedicated campaign landing page to the Library that drives targeted health app adoption. Designed to a health provider’s specific needs, the page feature images, copy, video and specific apps to address the needs of a specific patient cohort.
Working closely with Humber and North Yorkshire Board, ORCHA created a Waiting Well and Beyond campaign. This included:
Results
Since the campaign was launched in August 2023, we have seen over 6500 page visits, and approximately 32% of those who visited the campaign download a health app resulting in 2096 on page downloads.
Based on NICE evidence, each download helps to save the NHS £93 in costs. And so, this campaign not only helped provide support to people when they needed it, improving their health, but so far has also helped to save the NHS approximately £194,928.
Commenting on the campaign, Carrie Cranston, Strategic Digital Programme Support Manager, Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership said:
“Our ICB were looking at how we could maximise our elective care recovery programme, to reduce the capacity in demand for local services across Humber and North Yorkshire.
ORCHA have supported us in promoting the use of self-care apps within our local population and this campaign has allowed us to begin the wholesale adoption of digital health within our local communities.”
We are delighted that the Government has accepted most of the recommendations from the Health and Social Care Select Committee. However, we are surprised by their decision to reject what we consider a straightforward recommendation – introducing an accreditation scheme for third-party healthcare apps verified by the NHS.
This is a crucial step that could significantly benefit the NHS and people’s health, and it’s something that could be easily put into practice.
The demand for these healthcare technologies is clear. A significant 68% of people express their desire to use an NHS-verified app as part of their healthcare, and a remarkable 93% of health and care professionals believe in the potential of health apps to have a positive impact.
Moreover, countless technologies are readily available to meet this demand, thanks to significant investments from the NHS, clinicians, and the digital health industry.
To ensure that these apps maintain high standards in clinical, privacy, security, and usability aspects, much like medicines, we require a quality-check scheme. The NHS Digital Technology Assessment Criteria already serves this purpose.
To ensure safe distribution, continuous assessment, and a unified platform for healthcare professionals to safely prescribe these apps to patients, ORCHA, founded by clinicians and supported by the NHS National Innovator Accelerator Programme, possesses the necessary technology. We have assessed 24,000 technologies to date, providing Health App Libraries for the public and Digital Health Formularies for professionals in 70% of regions.
All the necessary components are in place, yet without government support, they remain disconnected. The crucial element of trust that would come with a central accreditation scheme is currently missing.
So, what’s the impact of this decision?
Well, despite the lack of UK regulation or NHS involvement, half of the UK public already chooses to use health apps. Our assessments have revealed that 80% of apps available in app stores fall short of quality standards, putting the UK public at risk.
Without a centralised system, app assessment and distribution are constrained, fragmented, and duplicated. Consequently, the NHS leverages digital health in only a small fraction of its potential applications.
For instance, just 2% of individuals with COPD currently use health apps, despite clinical studies confirming that the right apps can enhance outcomes and reduce the need for frequent medical appointments. Imagine the potential relief on our healthcare system during the Winter Pressures if primary care had access to the right set of digital tools.
In England, 7.19 million people are waiting for routine operations like hip or knee replacements. Integrating digital health into this pathway could significantly reduce deterioration while awaiting surgery, optimise health, and improve recovery outcomes.
This presents a substantial opportunity to enhance efficiency in prevention, urgent care, treatment, and discharge processes.
While it’s promising that the Government plans to introduce a new app, it’s important to recognize that a single app cannot cater to the diverse healthcare needs of our population. After all, there are 70,000 medicines listed in the BNF. Why should we assume that one app can meet everyone’s needs?
The NHS is under immense pressure, and Digital Health presents a practical and effective solution. However, for it to reach its full potential, a centralised system is essential.
We sincerely hope that the Government will reconsider its decision.
The Swedish health app PainDrainer™, a digital self-management device designed for individuals suffering from chronic pain, has won the inaugural Nordic Health App Award.
PainDrainer™ was chosen for its innovative chronic pain management solution, which uses patient-centric AI technology. The app also demonstrated strong evidence backing and readiness for market regulation.
The Nordic Health App Award scheme was developed by Nordic Innovation to showcase the potential of digital health across the Nordic states.
The Nordic region aims to be the most integrated health region in the world by 2030, according to the Nordic Council of Ministers. To facilitate this, the entire Nordic region has become the first in the world to have a cross-border programme to unify digital health standards across multiple countries.
Known as the NordDEC, the objective of the cross-border scheme is to ensure safe digital health can be delivered to patients across across Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland.
ORCHA worked with the Nordic Interoperability Project to develop the NordDEC framework. The five finalist apps and overall winner PainDrainer will all received a free benchmark against the NordDec, carried out by ORCHA.
Anders Tunold-Hanssen, CEO and Project Manager, Nordic Interoperability Project AS, said: “The five finalists and the winner of the Nordic Health App Award 2023 all showcase the huge potential we have within digital health in the Nordics. But to build a healthcare system that’s sustainable and integrated by 2030, we must bridge the gap between innovation and implementation, between health-tech and healthcare. NordDEC can be that bridge.
“A shared Nordic solution will not only create a bigger and more attractive home market for our winners, but it will also attract international health tech pioneers.”
Fiona Costello, SVP of National Accreditations at ORCHA, said: “Our congratulations to PainDrainer – and our team at ORCHA look forward to guiding them through the NordDEC process. This award scheme is a great way to highlight the immense talent and entrepreneurialism across the Nordic region.”
PainDrainer™ is a digital self-management device designed for individuals suffering from chronic pain. Through a mobile application, users can log their daily activities and pain levels, allowing the app’s Artificial Neural Network to identify unique pain triggers. With 95% correct predictions after 20 days, the app then offers personalized recommendations to enhance quality of life and alleviate pain.