Patchwork Health raises £20m for flexible NHS worker platform

Patchwork Health has raised £20m in a Series B funding round for its digital platform that lets NHS teams recruit, manage and dispatch both temporary and permanent healthcare workers.

Founded in 2016 by medics, Patchwork aims to relieve the strain on health and care workers in the NHS, which has one of the worst rates of worker stress and burnout due to increased demand and limited staffing.

“NHS staffing isn’t working for NHS staff, but it can be fixed with the right tools,” claims Patchwork co-founder and CEO Dr Anas Nader.

The company provides NHS organisations with a pool of temporary staff that can be custom selected to meet the specific demands of each clinic. Patchwork also provides data to NHS managers to monitor staffing trends and pay rates.

For permanent staff members, Patchwork’s platform can be used to specify personal needs and preferences for staff rotas.

“Our solution gives the NHS the power to make this sustainable staffing a reality, whilst improving staffing levels and safeguarding the quality of patient care,” Nader said.

The Series B round was led by Perwyn, with further backing from existing investor Praetura Ventures, KHP Ventures, and a host of angel investors, including Monzo founder Tom Blomfield.

“The traditional way of staffing our NHS is outdated and is contributing to the pressures our health service is facing,” said Martin le Huray, a partner at Perwyn.

“We believe that Patchwork is well on its way to playing a pivotal role in creating a stronger, more sustainable healthcare system for future generations.”

Patchwork previously raised £3m in a Praetura-led funding round in February 2020.

The funding for Patchwork follows several other funding rounds in the UK digital health tech space, including Suvera, a virtual care platform that raised £5m last month, and Cera Care Limited, which raised £263m last week.