Concentric, co-founded by Carmarthen-born surgeon Dafydd Loughran, operates out of Tramshed Tech, home to the tech, digital and creative industries in the centre of Cardiff, where Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, also has a Wales base.
Concentric is a platform which supports patients faced with the possibility of surgery to make shared decisions with their clinicians. In addition to empowering patients to make decisions that are right for them, and digitising the current paper process, the platform is also predicted to save health boards money – both through reduced medical negligence costs and avoiding unnecessary operations.
Discussing the current issues, Dafydd said:
“At Concentric, we’re hoping to drive healthcare towards data-driven, shared decision-making. We want to support decision making around what matters to the individual, and use technology to deliver insights into what the outcomes are likely to be for that individual. This funding will allow us to scale up from a pilot at Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust across interested Welsh health boards and internationally.”
Dafydd studied Medicine at Cardiff, followed by surgical training in Wales. Prior to Concentric, he undertook an artificial intelligence fellowship at Babylon Health in London, and brings that expertise to the expanding health technology ecosystem in Wales. He’s joined at Concentric by co-founder Edward St John, an NHS and academic surgeon, and an expanding software engineering and user experience team.
Asked about the benefits for clinicians and the health system, Edward commented:
“As a clinician I’m excited to be delivering a world-leading evidence base to support patients. Published evidence demonstrates that patients engaged in shared decisions often make less invasive decisions, leading to both better outcomes aligned with their priorities, and projected savings of up to £11.6bn a year across the NHS. For health boards, Concentric allows the consent process to go paperless, with an audit trail of the discussions held and decisions made.
Describing the need for technology to support shared decision making, Sian Phipps, Patient Leader at Velindre Cancer Centre reflected that:
“We need to support patients and clinicians in the journey towards shared decisions. I wanted to be empowered to take an active role in decisions about my care, and be able to explore my options both in the clinic room and at home. It’s a notable culture change from paternalistic decision making by a clinician for a patient, but I hope this new technology can support that shift.”
Innovate UK’s Manager for Wales, Jon Wood, said:
“I’m delighted that Innovate UK are supporting Concentric here in Wales. The open competition is very competitive, so this funding is a great endorsement for Concentric and its innovative approach to data-driven surgical decision making.”
Kelvin Gomez, Consultant Surgeon at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board was positive about the potential impact, stating that:
“As a surgical community, we recognise the need to improve our consent process, and here is an opportunity to make the process more patient-centred. I’m also delighted to see this innovation being developed locally and by Cardiff-trained surgeons. I look forward to health boards in Wales being some of the first to trial this 21st century way of obtaining informed consent from our patients, and hope that we remain an active part of the ongoing feedback and development process.”
Located at Tramshed Tech and supported by the Business Wales’ Accelerated Growth Programme, Concentric are the latest to realise the opportunities for health technology businesses in Wales.
