Cera, the technology-led home care provider, has picked up a Tech for Good Award at the UK Tech Awards.
The award was announced at a ceremony at the Intercontinental Park Lane last week, where Cera was recognised for its transformative impact on the health and social care sectors.
Cera uses preventative technology and AI to keep its elderly and vulnerable patients out of hospital—saving and improving thousands of lives, while also reducing the pressure on the NHS, saving the government £1 million a day.
Launched in 2016, Cera is now the UK’s largest health technology company, with almost 10,000 carers and nurses delivering around 2 million patient home visits a month—equivalent in capacity to all NHS A&E departments nationwide.
Cera’s innovations include a Falls Prevention AI which predicts 83% of falls before they happen, reducing patient falls by 20%—the leading cause of hospitalisations in elderly people. Preventative tools like this and Cera’s Hospitalisation Predict-Prevent tool, which predicts more than 80% of health risks in advance, help to reduce patient hospitalisations by up to 70%.
Dr Ben Maruthappu, Founder and CEO of Cera, said: “It’s certainly been a journey since we launched Cera almost eight years ago—but it’s fantastic to see the impact we are now making on people’s lives through innovation, both for those we care for, and those delivering care.”
At the UK Tech Awards, Cera was also recognised for productivity-enhancing tools such as an AI Scheduler which reduces carer admin time by as much as 80% and travel time by up to 50%. This frees staff up to deliver an extra two hours’ care a day—seeing more patients, increasing their impact and boosting their earnings.
Innovations like these have helped Cera attract thousands of new people to a career in care, at a time when staff shortages are rife across the sector. Health and social care will need almost 1 million more staff over the next 15 years as the population ages and demand grows. In contrast, Cera has attracted almost half a million job applications over the past year alone, thanks to its time-saving AI tools, cutting-edge recruitment technology, as well as structured career pathways and industry-leading training which are helping to attract, train and retain thousands of newcomers to a career in care.
Dr Maruthappu said: “The care sector can be challenging to work in, but it’s in desperate need of change. We’re grateful to do our bit, and for recognitions like this. Huge thanks are due to our team, who pull out all the stops to make care better, working tirelessly to solve one of the biggest challenges facing our society.”
Beyond its contributions to productivity and prevention in health and social care, Cera is also creating thousands of digital healthcare jobs for the unemployed and economically inactive.
25% of recent recruits to Cera’s almost 10,000-strong frontline workforce were previously unemployed, and more than 5% live with a disability. This year, Cera launched a new, cross-sector coalition to get Britain Back to Work, in partnership with Skills for Care and a number of government, charity and social enterprise partners. The company has set an ambitious target for 10% of new recruits over the next 12 months to be people returning from longer-term economic inactivity. All new recruits will be equipped with career-boosting tech and digital skills as well as comprehensive practical and emotional support to make coming back to work easier.
Cera also recently announced plans to give over-65s in its care the chance to benefit from potentially life-saving new treatment options for conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia and stroke, thanks to an innovative new clinical trials initiative.
Under the new programme, Cera plans to draw on its vast dataset and smart tech to make it safer and easier for over-65s to take part in clinical trials related to their conditions—improving healthcare research for a demographic which accounts for two-thirds of illness in the UK, yet is under-represented in most clinical research, accounting for just one-third of trial participants.
Other companies recognised at the UK Tech Awards included Zoe and Unmind, which were shortlisted for the Tech for Good Award; and social enterprise company Beam, which helps people rebuild their careers after major life challenges and is a partner in Cera’s Back to Work coalition.
Dr Maruthappu said: “A big congratulations to all the inspiring companies involved in the UK Tech Awards, and a special thank you to the sponsors for hosting us, and the judges for recognising our efforts as we strive to build a better future for health and social care.”
Image depicts Dr Ben Maruthappu, Founder & CEO, Cera