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Carer on-demand startup hails ‘pioneering’ Uber and NHS partnerships

The recently launched HealthTech platform, Cera, has unveiled a new partnership with ride hailing giant Uber that will help ferry the platform’s carers between patients.

Announced today, the agreement will see the platform’s London-based carers utilise Uber cars to get around the capital, while also giving elderly and disabled to book UberASSIST, a service which offers added assistance for those who need it, and wheelchair-equipped UberWAV vehicles from the Cera platform.

The platform, which launched in November on the back of a £1.3m seed round, has also announced that it has entered into partnerships with a string of NHS hospitals and Clinical Commission Groups (CCGs) across London to support their social care delivery.

Covering over 5m NHS service users, the agreements with Barts Health NHS Trust and CCGs including those in Harrow, Brent and Hillingdon, will see the startup providing support across a range of services, in an initiative which it said will help to reduce bed blocking and provide on-the-go care to patients.

This includes the provision and delivery of home care for patients suffering from dementia and cancer at Barts Health NHS Trust, along with work on the health and social care aspect for those who have suffered a stroke at hospitals such as The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel and Newham University Hospital in Plaistow.

Following the announcements, Dr. Ben Maruthappu, Co-founder and President of Cera, commented: “Today we’re firing the starting gun on revolutionising integration between health and social care through technology.

“These partnerships tackle major challenges in the NHS, cracking down on bed-blocking and delayed discharges, while providing high-quality and efficient care. Cera’s aim is to set the precedent for technology-led care solutions that benefit patients, families and the NHS alike.”

Care Minister David Mowat said: “This is an interesting and innovative proposal which will help raise awareness of the challenges faced by the vulnerable elderly, ‎and those with specific conditions that are becoming increasingly common in our society. I look forward to hearing more about the results in due course.”

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