Eden Primary Care Network, a group of 10 GP practices in Eden supporting 54,000 registered patients, has selected health-tech startup Aide Health to further help patients living with long-term conditions such as asthma, type 2 diabetes and hypertension to manage their health.
Located in rural Cumbria, Eden PCN provides healthcare to some of the most remote communities in the North West and with the NHS facing unprecedented challenges including increasing waiting times to see a GP, Eden PCN’s partnership with Aide is set to improve the efficiency of GP appointments and provide more support with less clinical time by helping people manage long-term health conditions at home.
Using natural language, Aide has short, daily conversations with patients to help them optimise their medicines use, track their health, and improve their knowledge of their condition. The platform is designed to help shared decision-making between the clinician and patient with real-world patient data and eventually reduce the need for unplanned visits to the GP.
This partnership follows Aide’s collaboration with Suffolk Primary Care, where it is supporting those living with asthma across the PCN that supports over 130,000 patients. Aide has also demonstrated its success in a recent NHS pilot in North Yorkshire, targeted at those with asthma or type 2 diabetes. Aide users achieved an average adherence of 75%, significantly greater than the 40-50% average adherence of medication in general.
In recent years, cuts to public transport, combined with an ageing rural population, have made it increasingly difficult for people in remote areas to access their GP, according to Age UK. As almost a quarter of the rural population in England is over 65, Aide’s arrival in Cumbria has vast potential to make health information and treatment more accessible.
During Aide’s NHS pilot, the most improved patient in the over 70s saw adherence improve from less than 50% to 100% in just three and a half months showing how its daily reminders and health education are also hugely helpful for the older population.
Eden Primary Care said:
We are excited to be working with Aide to give our patients, especially those in more remote areas, the opportunity to use technology to improve the way they manage their long-term health condition. We hope that it will help to enhance the lives of patients living with asthma, diabetes and hypertension across the Vale of Eden, whilst also increasing their knowledge of these conditions and confidence in managing them successfully.
Ian Wharton, founder and CEO of Aide Health said:
Having grown up in the North West and studied in Cumbria, I’ve seen first hand how rural communities have different requirements when it comes to healthcare infrastructure. This partnership with Eden Primary Care is a very exciting step in Aide’s journey and I’m excited to bring our technology to those who need it the most.
