Gro Health W8Buddy receives funding from NIHR and OLS

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) have funded a project looking at the long-term impact of using Gro Health W8Buddy – the first dedicated digital tool for NHS Tier 3 Weight Management Services.

This project aims to understand the long-term benefits of using an online and smartphone app to support people living with obesity.

The study will compare outcomes for people using the Gro Health W8Buddy system to those receiving standard NHS care from weight management services.

Gro Health W8Buddy been identified as promising medical technologies that meet a national unmet need, with the potential to have most impact and add value to patients and the health and care system.

Gro Health W8Buddy is among seven projects receiving funding from the NIHR and OLS. The funding aims to help make the UK a leading testbed for late-stage health innovations.

It will allow researchers and companies to generate the evidence needed to achieve full NICE guidance, and to accelerate uptake in the NHS so that patients can benefit sooner.

Professor Mike Lewis, NIHR’s Scientific Director for Innovation, said: “The UK is a hotbed of innovation, but the NHS sometimes misses out on the opportunity to adopt new digital technologies at scale.”

Rosalind Campion, Director, Office for Life Sciences, said: “MedTech has a hugely important role in improving patient outcomes, improving NHS productivity, and transforming the NHS through life sciences.

“However, its full potential is held back without the ability to generate the Real World Evidence needed to support wider access and uptake. That is why I am delighted that the Office for Life Sciences is supporting this pilot with the ultimate aim of ensuring patients have timely access to the medical technologies that they need.”