NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board have launched the women’s health app CONNECTPlus to offer advice and guidance to patients regarding women’s wellbeing.
Developed by Health and Care Innovations Ltd, the CONNECTPlus app reportedly answers questions about contraception, the menopause and cervical screening, while offering general women’s health advice around pre-conception care, breast pain, STI screening, pelvic health to information about violence against young girls and women.
Clair Raybould, executive director for system delivery and women’s health champion at NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board, commented on the integration of the app, noting: “Women have told us that they want to take charge of their wellbeing and we want to support them, and the CONNECTPlus app is here to help. This app provides trusted and useful information to help women understand their bodies better and navigate the health and care options available in Lincolnshire.”
Health and Care Innovations Ltd recently secured £880k in funding to expand the platform and continue their work on “empowering patients to confidently manage their health at home”. Led by The FSE Group, this latest round of fundraising saw an investment of £375k from the British Business Bank’s South West Investment Fund, which will also go towards the organisation’s Health and Care Video Library, “delivering vital education and support for effective at-home condition management”.
Supporting women’s health with tech: the wider trend
For one of our HTN Now sessions, we heard from expert panellists from across the healthcare sector to debate some of the key priorities for digital tools in women’s healthcare. We also looked at barriers to tech and the future outlook for digital in this area.
In a similar story, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside recently launched an app to help women across the region find trusted health information, forming part of Cheshire and Merseyside Women’s Health Strategy, launched in March 2024.
Google announced a partnership with the Institute of Women’s Cancers, with the aim to find ways in which AI tools can help “improve outcomes” for female patients with breast cancer and gynaecological cancers.
Last month, SBRI Healthcare and NIHR i4i launched a venture capital readiness programme, supporting female founders to scale their innovations across health and social care over a six-month period. The programme also offers “expert mentorship” from successful innovators, finance specialists, healthcare leaders and entrepreneurs, with help provided on business plans and pitching to potential investors.
