Digital GP ends NHS trust deals eight years early as losses mount
A DIGITAL GP app championed by Matt Hancock has pulled out of work ing with an NHS trust eight years early, warning the work was “not economically viable”.
Babylon had contracts to run a digital “Ask A&E” app on behalf of University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust and Royal Wolverhampton Trust.
The work in Wolverhampton was due to last 10 years, but has been cancelled after just two, the Health Service Journal reported.
The Birmingham trust, meanwhile, confirmed in board minutes that it would wind down its work with Babylon in October. A Babylon spokesman told the HSJ: “At this time, Royal Wolverhampton Trust and Babylon have made a mutual decision to end our partnership, as it is not economically viable for Babylon in the current climate.”
The Royal Wolverhampton Trust said: “No patient safety or clinical risks have been identified as a consequence of this decision.”
Babylon, which provides remote doctor appointments and a symptomchecking service, was championed by the former health secretary Matt Hancock for use by the NHS.
Its GP at Hand service provides free remote and in-person GP appointments and is used by 100,000 NHS patients.
Tim Rideout, Babylon’s UK general manager, said that the company had no plans to cut back on its GP at Hand service.
“We are committed to maintaining the GP at Hand service as it stands,” he said.
However, he said there were no plans to expand the service.
Mr Rideout said Babylon had decided to wind down the hospital contracts because they “had not proved to be sustainable for the parties”.
Funding pressure on the NHS and the rising cost of capital had meant Babylon could not keep running the digital A&E service at a loss.
He said: “When cash was a bit cheaper, private sector companies like us could go with it for a bit, but we just cannot do that any more.”
The digital health company has been forced to slash costs by $100m (£82m) since going public in the US via a special purpose acquisition last year.
Ali Parsa, Babylon’s founder and chief executive, said in May he was “very cautious” about expanding its NHS services as it “loses money on every patient”.
The NHS has also shifted its focus on digital health to encouraging patients to use its 111 service as a first port of call for health questions.
Babylon’s spokesman added: “The decision has been taken to decommission this service in 2022. With the longterm commitment to embed NHS 111 as the first port of call for all patients with urgent and emergency needs, Babylon will no longer provide a separate symptom checker service to the NHS.”
In July, it was reported that Babylon was cutting 100 jobs, although this did not impact frontline UK roles.
Babylon said last month its cutbacks were part of “plans to accelerate its path to profitability through revenue and cost efficiencies, in response to changing market conditions”
Babylon went public last year at a valuation of £3bn, but its valuation has since collapsed around 90pc.
It has gone from trading at around $10 to just $1 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company has said it is targeting $1bn in revenues in 2022, but in May Babylon reported a $91m loss.
Mr Parsa, who previously founded the private hospital group Circle Health, has relocated to the US since Babylon’s float.