Entrepreneur: Bernadette Porter, nurse consultant specialising in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis, UCL Hospitals NHS Trust.

What does it do? NeuroResponse is a new model of telecare for people with Multiple Sclerosis, using telephone, video and e-mail, which will greatly improve the ability of MS patients to manage their condition. It provides a specialist service outside the hospital setting and is user friendly and saves costs.

Need: Multiple Sclerosis patients often require rapid responses from specialist clinicians to help them deal with their condition. They are not able to access the appropriate expertise via NHS Direct or their local GP, so they have to make the journey to the nearest specialist hospital to receive the treatment they require. Travel can be particularly traumatic because of the pain and severe fatigue patients suffer.

Solution: NeuroResponse offers a service that reduces patient anxiety and resolves issues much faster. This is achieved by supporting patients to self-manage aspects of their condition and therefore significantly reduce hospital visits. It also creates significant potential cost savings for PCTs.

NeuroResponse uses technology to bring specialist care closer to patients. Initially the project is focusing on providing three core services to Multiple Sclerosis patients:

1. NeuroDirect: An on-demand telephone service staffed by expert MS nurses. Patients get an immediate response from staff, trained at a clinical centre of excellence and have access to nurse lead at-home relapse treatment, avoiding hospital admission.

2. NeuroMail: An email service linking GPs with a Consultant Neurologist, thus making specialist expertise available to patients through their GP.

3. NeuroView: A video clinic linking an expert neurology team with the patient and local clinical team. As a result, patients and community clinicians get access to world-renowned specialist expertise at their local clinical centre.

Ultimately, NeuroResponse seeks to become the UK market leader in the provision of high quality telecare services for those living with long-term neurological conditions.

Health Launchpad originally provided seed funding to develop and evaluate a one month proof-of-concept trial. Since then, Health Launchpad has provided intensive business planning support to ensure NeuroResponse can sustainably provide a compelling offer to patients, customers (clinicians and PCTs) and partners (UCLH NHS Trust). Health Launchpad has committed to make a matched £150k investment to fund a 6-month pilot trial and to develop NeuroResponse as an independent social enterprise.

Latest news: In March 2010 NeuroResponse was offered a £100,000 investment from NHS London through its Regional Innovation Fund. It scored highest of all applications from across the whole of London.

NeuroResponse is developed by Health Launchpad at The Young Foundation.

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