Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust has published its intent to procure a physiotherapy digital triage solution, with a contract value of £320,000 over three years.
The contract, to be awarded to Physio Med Limited, covers key criteria including quality and innovation, value, integration and service sustainability, access improvement and reduced health inequalities, and social value.
Physio Med will provide access to digital triage, telephone, and face-to-face assessment, as well as face-to-face support services for the trust’s employees.
Specifically, when assessing the Physio Med solution, it was found to show evidence of positive impact on health and productivity, embedded governance and established referral pathways, good integration, improved access through a 24/7 digital self-referral and triage pathway, and impact on staff wellbeing.
CNWL recently published its safety strategy for 2026-2029, noting plans to develop digital innovations in support of patient and staff safety, and sharing that clinical safety officers have been appointed to evaluate digital products for their potential benefits or risks and oversee DCB0160 approval.
Wider trend: Digital in supporting care pathways and virtual care
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust has issued a prior information notice sharing its intent to procure an MSK physiotherapy AI service. Seeking a UK-based service using AI to drive care delivery, the trust outlines requirements for a “readily available, comprehensive, end-to-end clinical pathway for both new and existing patients”, offering an alternative to traditional care pathways. The service procured will incorporate a hybrid model, comprising both AI physio appointments and virtual appointments with HCPC registered physiotherapists under the employ of the contracted provider.
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust has shared an update on its neighbourhood oncology programme in a move to a digitally-enabled and neighbourhood-based system of care, sharing a series of milestones for the next 12 months, and the next five years. Following engagement with clinical experts and system partners including the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, and neighbourhood teams, the board looks to the neighbourhood oncology programme to transform cancer care delivery, redesigning pathways to be more proactive, and using digital tools to adopt a risk stratified approach. Early intervention will help prevent complications from escalating to a point where they require hospital admission, it suggests, and cancer will be managed as a long-term condition.
West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals has shared key findings from an in-depth evaluation of its Hospital at Home (HAH) service, including an 80 percent reduction in costs compared with hospital care, improved outcomes, and high rates of patient satisfaction. The evaluation, published in Frontiers in Digital Health, analysed patients admitted to the HAH service between April 2023 and April 2024, across pathways including heart function, airway disease, and acute respiratory infection. Outcomes measured looked at length of stay, total bed-day costs, 30-day readmission rates, 90-day mortality, and patient experience. Findings demonstrated a net saving of £1.33 million over a 12-month period, reducing hospital admissions by close to three days on average, and offering a reported 80 percent reduction in costs compared with hospital admission.
