How health tech boss is helping the digital transformation of the NHS

When you’re the head of a digital healthcare company and a global pandemic strikes, you need to be to be certain your service is meeting the needs of NHS departments that can no longer see outpatients face-to-face.

In March, Bryn Sage, chief executive of Inhealthcare found himself entering the busiest period in the company’s history, refining services and helping to shape government policy amid a huge overhaul in the way the NHS delivered its services.

The company, which has created a multi-million pound digital infrastructure to support remote home monitoring for a range of health conditions, has seen ‘exponential growth’ since Covid-19 hit the UK.

Speaking via video link from his office in Harrogate, he says: “We were extremely busy at the outbreak of Covid. There were a lot of things that needed adapting in our services and our team responded phenomenally.”

The 21-strong team had to install video into a complex piece of software at short notice. “We’re not a video company but our customers needed to be able to screen people before community visits,” he said.

The company also wrote a number of white papers to help NHS England about the benefits of healthcare technology and helped to create a national framework to help the NHS screen new suppliers.

There has been a lot of discussion over whether video can replace face-to-face consultations within primary care but Sage believes ‘there’s a place for all’.

“We don’t restrict ourselves to just video,” he says. “Our software allows us to optimise how care is delivered. If you start freeing up capacity by only intervening when you need to, it means there’s more capacity in the system to do face-to-face visits.”

Over 50 customer organisations and more than 400,000 patients use Inhealthcare’s digital health and remote patient monitoring services.

Last year it provided 50,000 episodes of care - a set of services provided to treat a clinical condition or procedure. The number has grown to 480,000.

Meanwhile, Sage expects turnover to double from £1m to £2m in 2020. “We’ve seen exponential growth,” he says. “It was always going to happen because most people don’t want to go to the hospital for a routine appointment but we’ve seen an acceleration since Covid.”

Inhealthcare’s services are used in two thirds of care homes across the North East and it recently signed a large contract with NHS Scotland for multiple services, starting with care homes. It has also built a Covid-19 symptom tracker for the organisation.

“We’ve got some really exciting large-scale projects that we’re engaged in,” Sage says. “Covid-19 has been a seismic shock for the country in many ways but it has opened the eyes to the possibilities of technology to improve people’s lives and experience with the NHS.

“The time has come for this technology to go mainstream. One of my former colleagues says ‘you know that you’ve cracked it when people just call it healthcare, not digital healthcare’ and I think we’re getting to that point.

“A video consultation with a GP will just be called a consultation.”

Sage says there are also moves towards replacing phrases such as ‘remote patient monitoring’ and ‘digital healthcare’ with the ‘NHS at home’ “It has a lot better feel to it than remote patient care,” he says. “Digital health is enabling NHS at home. You get the same level of care in a different way.”

Sage describes himself as an ‘opinionated and pragmatic’ Yorkshireman, who is trying not to become a ‘Victor Meldrew’ as he approaches his 55th birthday this month.

Born and brought up in Leeds, he has lived in the region almost all his life.

As a youngster he thought he wanted to be a lawyer but after discovering computers and electronics, he realised he had found a true passion for life.

He left school at 16 to become an apprentice electronics engineer at large Leeds-based computer manufacturer, Systime, in 1981.

Five years later he joined the Intechnology group and spent 18 months working on a computer maintenance project in Nigeria before becoming sales director of its £200m hardware and software distribution business and then chief operating officer of its £50m cloud services business.

He was the founding chief executive of Inhealthcare in 2012 when its parent company, Intechnology, was looking for new areas of growth.

He is a founding director of Health Call, a joint venture with the NHS to drive adoption of patient-centred technologies across a population area of over three million people in the North East of England.

Sage lives with his wife in Hillam village, located between Selby and Garforth. He has two grown up children and two stepchildren.

He says he has a ‘slight’ interest in politics. He is a council member of TechUK’s health and social care group and in the past he has been an elected member of Selby District Council. “I’m a typical opinionated, pragmatic Yorkshireman. I’ve got opinions on most things,” he says.

This particularly applies to the North Yorkshire devolution situation.

North Yorkshire County Council has said a so-called super council to serve 600,000 residents - whilst leaving City of York and its population of around 200,000 intact - is the best way forward.

Meanwhile, the region’s seven district leaders are said to be exploring the creation of two councils of roughly equal size - around 400,000 residents - by involving York in their joint-proposals.

“I’m leaning towards one North Yorkshire. I just don’t see the logic in unpicking North Yorkshire and the unitary authorities,” Sage says.

Although he reckons he has enjoyed all his career roles, it’s his current job at Inhealthcare that gives him the greatest satisfaction.

“When you get to speak to patients who are using our service and they tell you about how it’s changed their lives, it’s a very rewarding moment,” he says.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Title: Chief executive of Inhealthcare

Date of birth: August 26, 1965

First job: Stacking shelves in Morrisons at the Merrion Centre in Leeds

Favourite holiday destination: We have a little place in Vera Playa in south east Spain.

Favourite song: It varies but it’s currently Jesus of Suburbia, by Green Day. You get value for money from this one. Nine minutes out of a single song. It’s like four songs in one.

Favourite film: Top Gun. I’ve seen it too many times for my own good.

Last book read: Execution, by SJ Parris

Most proud of: Winning an election at Selby District Council. I was so proud and felt so empowered that people had put their trust in me to represent them.