Paloma Health raises £2M to tackle NHS waiting lists for autism assessments
Paloma Health, the AI-enabled healthtech startup reducing wait times for access to critical NHS health services, has raised £2 million in a pre-seed round. The round was led by Triple Point Ventures, with co-investors Heal Capital and expert angels, including Pam Garside, Co-Chair Cambridge Health Network, and James Allgrove, ex-Stripe. The funding will support the roll-out of Paloma Health’s first NHS service providing access to children and young people’s autism assessments in under four weeks.
There are 187,000 children and young people waiting on average two and a half years for an NHS autism assessment. An early diagnosis of autism has been shown to improve a child’s quality of life and educational outcomes, and help parents better understand their child’s needs. Paloma Health will reduce long wait times for diagnoses, which cause further physical and mental health side effects, freeing up NHS resources to address other urgent healthcare demands.
Paloma Health accepts referrals from any NHS GP in England for children and young people’s autism assessments under the NHS “Right to Choose” scheme. As an official NHS provider, the service has no cost for families, and importantly Paloma’s autism diagnostic outcome reports are accepted by Local Authorities, whereas private autism assessments are often not accepted.
Paloma Health has worked with expert clinicians to redesign care pathways, making NHS services more person-centred and affordable. This will enable it to bring fast access to care for many more conditions including ADHD, dementia, allergy and dermatology. They are also developing software and several AI tools to support clinicians with administrative tasks, freeing up their time to spend with patients.
Dr Mark Jenkins, Co-Founder and CEO of Paloma Health said: “The current waiting times for autism assessments are very disappointing, with most families facing years of uncertainty. Our expert clinicians and engineers have redesigned the care pathway to offer families timely access to high-quality NHS care. This funding allows us to change the lives of many families, and support the NHS to tackle waiting lists.”
Darshak Shah, Co-Founder and Executive Chair said: “Our mission at Paloma Health is to ensure everybody can access the care they need within just four weeks. We are proud to be working as an accredited NHS provider, using technology to reimagine healthcare delivery and reduce waiting times for access to critical NHS services. We are grateful to our investors for sharing our vision and making this possible. With their backing, we can accelerate delivery of high-quality autism assessments and begin extending our model to other conditions, transforming access to NHS services across the country."
Jamie Tomalin, Investor, Triple Point Ventures said: “The speed and diligence with which Paloma Health has moved would be incredibly impressive within any sector, no less healthcare. From concept to operational service in 6 months, Paloma Health is a great example in how entrepreneurs can help address problems facing healthcare systems. Right to Choose provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a new tech-enabled healthcare provider from the ground up, creating the foundations for applications far beyond the NHS and UK.”
Eckhardt Weber of Heal Capital said: “Paloma Health is perfectly in line with our vision: Using technology to increase access to healthcare – responsibly and at scale. We are proud to support their case.”
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