Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has acquired the digital health company, Health Call Solutions Limited, in a bid to “support Health Call to develop its reach across the NHS”.
The deal will see the trust acquire the company’s software products said to support the management of healthcare data, to support patients to manage appointments and support remote care. The company was originally set up in 2016, bringing together NHS trusts from across the North East of England, with the aim to “share digital health expertise and resources”.
With this acquisition from Northumbria Healthcare NHS FT, its said to align with the trust’s “digital by default target” set out in their sustainability action plan in 2024 and their more recent digital strategy in which they aim to “develop and deliver services that support both the clinical staff and the public in accessing our care”.
A spokesperson for the trust commented on the acquisition: “We would like to thank our colleagues and partners who have all made this transaction possible including the other Foundation Trusts in the North East. We would also like to acknowledge the support given by Health Innovation North East and Cumbria and also Ammar Mirza, CBE who, for the last 7 months, has been supporting the development of the services of Health Call and has played an important role in making this deal possible.”
The trust has already reportedly digitised “millions of health records” and plans to take a more active role in “offering a Patient Engagement Platform that enables people to manage their medical appointments and clinical letters online.” They also recently opened a tender notice valued at £100k, for the procurement of a digital dental management EPR system.
Recent procurements and company acquisitions in digital healthcare
Digital healthcare platform, Liva Healthcare recently announced its acquisition of Momenta, a provider of healthy lifestyle solutions, as part of its international growth strategy. Liva Healthcare offers “human-led therapeutic intervention programmes” for lifestyle-related chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and hopes to “significantly” increase its reach and help it to emerge as a “major international provider of evidence-based therapeutic lifestyle interventions” through this acquisition.
Earlier this month, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust procured London-based Physitrack PLC for the provision of an exercise prescription software service. The platform is said to help with creating “customised home exercise programs” with “easy-to-follow” videos promoting adherence, pain tracking, and progress monitoring features across musculoskeletal, women’s health and pregnancy, and senior health.
Sword Health announced the acquisition of UK-based health tech supplier, Surgery Hero as part of their wider investment in the UK. It will reportedly see the Surgery Hero tool and team integrated with the Sword Health offering to allow them to continue their mission of “freeing the world from pain”.
