Pando: The tech start-up helping NHS staff to communicate safely

In a time when the health service faces huge logistical challenges, Pando provides a secure platform for medical professionals to share information, writes Zlata Rodionova

From left to right: Pando founders Philip Mundy, Dr Lydia Yarlott and Dr Barney Gilbert (Pando)

From getting personal protection equipment (PPE) to the right place at the right time to anticipating demand for ICU beds and ventilators, the coronavirus outbreak has created huge logistical challenges for the NHS.

But Pando is among the healthcare start-ups that have mobilised to help the health service to cope.

Founded in 2017 by Lydia Yarlott, Barney Gilbert and Philip Mundy – two doctors and a software engineer – Pando is a messaging platform that connects health workers so they can communicate with each other between wards and find each other easily. It also allows staff to share important information such as test results securely, and is NHS England compliant.

According to Dr Yarlott, the platform has seen an increase of 700 per cent in its daily download rate in March. Some 24,000 new users signed up to the app since January bringing the total number of users to 45,000.

Together with her two co-founders, Dr Yarlott now manages a team of 30 in London with imminent plans to go global but her identity is still deeply rooted in being a paediatrician and she continues to do her clinical job on a part-time basis.

In fact, it is her experience as a junior doctor working in the NHS that led to the idea behind Pando.

She told The Independent: “It’s very emotional for us because Pando was designed to resolve a real issue that we were experiencing in our clinical jobs. As junior doctors, we understood how things worked on a hospital ward and we built this tool because we were frustrated at not being able to get in touch with our A&E or our surgical colleagues at the touch of a button.

“When you’re running around through departments to see patients and you have your phone in the pocket, the need for a piece of mobile software becomes very clear.”

Most people assume tools like Pando were already out there but Dr Yarlott explains that many doctors still rely on WhatsApp to share patient information in emergency situations raising both security and data issues. On Pando, none of the information shared is stored permanently on a device – instead it is stored on certified UK based secure servers.

Dr Lydia Yarlott: Part of our strategy is also always directed by the users (Pando)

“What’s interesting about healthcare is that people who work in it are so heterogeneous, you’ve not only got doctors and nurses but you also got all the staff who restock supplies or those who organise patient transport. There are so many cases when it becomes really important for people to be able to get hold of one another.

“Pando allows healthcare worker to communicate within a closed network and to have access to a directory of people within it. I like to think that it works a little bit like Slack but for the healthcare industry by allowing you to coordinate your team. Clinicians also don’t need to know the phone number of the person they are trying to contact in order to reach them via Pando.”

Healthtech is usually lagging behind other technology sectors because the stakes are higher and there is more risk to get it wrong, according to Dr Yarlott but the coronavirus pandemic has forced the NHS to embrace technology.

The people on the ground are telling us how to improve this for them, so the willingness to completely adapt our roadmap to that plays an important part in our strategy

Big organisations that traditionally work in the same building and combine doctors, social workers and therapists are now all working remotely and communication is key in order to prioritise vulnerable families that need support.

“The emphasis at the moment is keeping people out of hospitals and that involves having a remote team of doctors visiting patients in their own homes to see whether they really need to be admitted or not.

“These are often quite difficult, borderline decisions and Pando allows you to bring your colleagues with you to safely and securely ask them questions if you need to.”

At a time when the health advice is changing rapidly, Pando also became a great tool to broadcast the latest health guidance to a large pool of people.

“When guidance for PPE changed to include eyewear, it was really important for organisations to be able to inform every single person from doctors and nurses to cleaners or those who are preparing food that they needed to do something differently today as opposed to yesterday,” Dr Yarlott said.

Dr Yarlott continues to work as a paediatrician (Pando)

“We are still learning a lot about the disease itself and how to achieve the best outcomes for the patients that we are looking after so that information needs to have a way of disseminating rapidly.”

Pando has seen a huge growth as the NHS became more reliant on technology at time of crisis but Dr Yarlott insist the platform is here to stay for the long term.

“We have been very lucky as an organisation to be here at the right time but our cause hasn’t changed since this crisis happened. We are still out to deliver the most value that we can to healthcare professionals to hopefully help rebuilt things after this crisis is over.”

Dr Yarlott believes the secret to the platform success is putting healthcare workers at the heart of their strategy and seeking change for the right reasons. “The advantage of being doctors ourselves is that we do have quite a clear set of values and, as an organisation, we know who we want to be useful to.

“Part of our strategy is also always directed by the users. The people on the ground are telling us how to improve this for them, so the willingness to completely adapt our roadmap to that plays an important part in our strategy.”

In January, Pando raised $5m (£3.8m) of investment from Australian investment firm Skip Capital, with plans to accelerate its international expansion plans.

“What we really want is to become one of the essential tools in healthcare. The idea was always to grow as much as we could in the UK before expanding internationally.

“But now is a good time to expand because countries are having quite literally to restructure their entire healthcare system to cope with the burden of this disease. This involves really good communication and I’m really passionate about that.”