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

The Independent, June 3rd 2020

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 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.