Patchwork Health raises £3.5m for expansion plans

Patchwork Health has raised £3.5million to enable further expansion and support its mission to solve the NHS burnout crisis.

Founded by doctors, Patchwork’s technology connects organisations with workers to fill shifts and minimise the use of agency staff. The company already works with over 70 NHS organisations and the new funding will be used to further scale its services. To date, Patchwork has filled over 1.7million work hours and saved the NHS £21m in temporary staffing fees, it claims.

The funding round was led by Praetura Ventures and BMJ New Ventures – the investment arm of global healthcare knowledge provider BMJ and publisher of the BMJ.

David Foreman, managing director at Praetura ventures and non-executive director of Patchwork, commented: “Patchwork is helping to solve a staffing crisis in the NHS. They’ve made real strides over the last 18 months and have the potential to make seismic changes in the way we organise staff in one of the world’s largest healthcare systems. At a time when there’s so much pressure on the frontline, innovative platforms like Patchwork will help us shape a better future for this critical industry whilst continuing to maintain high levels of patient care.”

Across the north west, a digital initiative, powered by the company went live to change how NHS temporary staffing is run. While four London trusts joined forces and use Patchwork to fill vacant shifts trust-wide.

The system predicts when temporary staff may be needed and broadcasts available shifts via an app. Admin is reduced as the system handles the passporting of credentials, HR paperwork and payments. Full time staff can also benefit as their own working personal preferences can be reflected in their rotas to promote flexible work patterns and better wellbeing.

Dr Anas Nader, co-founder of Patchwork Health, added: “We’re already partnering with over 70 NHS sites to tackle the root causes of burnout, offer full-time and temporary staff more choices, and create stronger staffing foundations for hospitals. Through our technology and services, flexible work and safely staffed wards can go hand in hand.”