On Monday 9^th March Jacob Haddad, co-founder of accuRx, tweeted, “Friday PM, we decided to build two new products for COVID-19: video consultations and pre-appointment screening. Last night we shipped. This AM we tested. 3pm today, we enabled for 3600 practices – over half the country.”

Friday PM, we decided to build two new products for COVID-19: video consultations and pre-appointment screening. Last night we shipped. This AM we tested. 3pm today, we enabled for 3600 practices – over half the country. Privileged to work with such a talented and motivated team!

— Jacob Haddad (@jacobnhaddad) March 9, 2020

By the end of April 35,000 video consultations were being carried out by general practice each day, across 90% of practices.  It is unlikely general practice will ever be the same again.

Who are accuRx?  Jacob Haddad and his co-founder Laurence Bargery launched the company in 2016 to develop datasets and tools to help tackle the problem of inappropriate use of antibiotics.  They quickly shifted to the development of a broader communication platform connecting clinical teams with patients.

They started with a text messaging service.  It gained traction quickly, in part because it was offered for free, and in part because GPs found it so easy to use.  It worked effectively with the GP clinical systems and made it easy to text patients where letters and phone calls were proving time consuming and ineffective.

But the game changer was this over-the-weekend introduction of video consultations.  In the past video consultations had been difficult to implement, because it was hard to synchronise timings between doctors and patients, and technical and installation issues often got in the way.  But the accuRx system is simple to use for both doctor and patients.  It makes it easy to switch from telephone to video, and doesn’t require any installation.

It is fair to say that GPs by and large love it.  It is extremely rare for a new technology to get universal uptake so quickly.  Of course the shift was shaped by necessity and the context of the pandemic, but even so it has been an unprecedented change, and one that is likely to shape how general practice operates for years to come.  And it is free: accuRx does not charge practices to use the service.  Apparently some agreement has been reached between the company and NHS England, the details of which are unclear, but it remains free at the point of use for practices and their patients.

accuRx is venture backed.  It raised £8.8M of funding in its last round in 2019, and is in what is termed the “pre-revenue” stage.  How that will play out for the NHS and general practice when it needs to generate revenue remains to be seen.  But the strategy of gaining traction for the product first has had a huge, transformational impact.

It is in direct contrast to GP at Hand, in many ways the initial trailblazer for video consultations.  GP at Hand set up in competition with general practice, using video and e-consultations as their competitive advantage.  They (unsurprisingly) encountered huge resistance, and now their advantage has gone.  While accuRx has thrived during covid, and undoubtedly has the support of the profession, apparently GP at Hand has furloughed 5% of its staff.

When you reflect on the millions and millions of pounds invested in technology within the NHS (NPFIT anyone?) and the tortuous pace of development, it is unthinkable that changes developed by a small team over the period of one weekend could have such a profound and permanent impact on general practice.  But that is undoubtedly what has happened, and general practice will never be the same again.