Gresham House Ventures has backed digital triage services provider eConsult Health with £5 million investment.
The funding, alongside further investment from existing shareholders, will help maintain the London firm’s position as the NHS’s leading online consultation provider to primary care GP surgeries.
It will also support the expansion of eConsult Health into the secondary care market with the continued rollout of its Urgent and Emergency Care triage solution, eTriage, and outpatient referral software, eSpecialist.
Digital triage allows patients to be dealt with more effectively and efficiently, moving from a world where 90% of patients have no option other than a face–to–face appointment to one where the majority of cases are appropriate for remote closing.
This allows healthcare practitioners to prioritise face–to–face consultations with those patients in greatest and most urgent need – particularly urgent in light of the additional pressures put on the NHS by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gresham House Ventures’ investment is led by investment director Henry Alty, who focuses on process automation technology, alongside Maya Ward and James Hendry.
“At such a crucial moment for healthcare provision, funding the right businesses in this space is more important than ever. Founded by four innovative GP partners in South London, the eConsult platform has already proven the power of its technology, as the most widely used digital consultation solution and the first choice for NHS GP surgeries,” Alty said.
“By expanding its services to cover secondary as well as primary care, eConsult Health has the potential to go even further and completely revolutionise healthcare provision in the UK, improving outcomes while at the same time driving effectiveness.
“We are very excited to work alongside an extremely knowledgeable management team and further improve their current platform.”
Dr Murray Ellender, CEO of eConsult Health, commented: “We are extremely pleased to be working with Gresham House Ventures as an investor.
“This funding will help us keep pace with the product development we need to support cutting edge health technology across both primary and secondary care.
“NHS patients deserve an excellent digital experience when interacting with the health service and we now look forward to delivering the transformation needed at pace.”