Two new on-demand GP appointment platforms will be launching on a national scale after securing sufficient funding.
Doctaly and ZoomDoc, which both identify themselves as ‘Uber-like apps because their GPs are self-employed, have raised a total of £884,180 and £486,065 respectively.
As part of their national expansion programme, they are both looking at recruiting GPs across the UK.
Doctaly, which secured funding from 1,185 large and small investors via crowd-funding, has said it is making face-to-face appointments ‘affordable’ for patients, who would pay from £39.99 to £69.99 depending on the time and day of the week.
Doctaly chief executive and co-founder Ben Teichman said: ‘We are now actively on-boarding GPs across the UK to see more patients, creating an additional level of appointment supply and thereby an additional income stream for doctors.’
ZoomDoc, which charges from £99 to £200 for home visits and £25 to £40 for telephone advice, is also targeting NHS work by pitching for out-of-hours provider work.
Plans have been met with wariness by some GP leaders, who fear they will ‘fragment’ public services and lead to privatisation of the NHS.
But Mr Teichman added: ‘It’s important to point out that every Doctaly patient is one less person in the NHS queue.’
Zoom Doc chief executive Dr Kenny Livingstone said: ‘We are in discussion with several CCGs and many LMCs looking at collaborative projects within the NHS.’
Please note, there were errors in a previous draft of this story. These have been rectified. Apologies for any confusion caused
