New AI-led social care model to save ￡1bn per year

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An AI-backed app could cut hospitalisation rates among the frail elderly by up to two thirds, saving the state ￡1 billion a year by 2026, research suggests. This transformative new technology is taking the care of older people out of the hands of UK hospitals and residential care homes and back into patients’ own homes.

The transformative home healthcare model from health tech company Cera , uses preventative technology to reduce the need for older-age adults to be hospitalised by up to 70%.

The company’s software tracks and analyses the information, taking into account age and medical history, to detect early signs of illnesses, such as a urine infection or flu.

The early warning system for carers then alerts them to take steps such as arranging an emergency GP visit, or organising a prescription for antibiotics and is already preventing at least 233 emergency admissions a month, resulting in a reduction of A&E waiting times, hospital admissions and subsequent admissions to residential care homes, leading to a ￡1m saving to the NHS and Government.

Faculty, one of the UK’s leading technology firms, has verified these cost savings and estimates that these savings will increase ￡2m per day by the summer of 2025 with a further increase to ￡3m per day by autumn of 2026. This is equivalent to ￡1bn saved annually.

Cera hopes that its healthcare model will help the NHS free up more than 1,210 hospital bed days each month by reducing unnecessary hospitalisations. An analysis by Faculty showed that each bed costs, on average, ￡460 per day.

Vast increases in A&E visits over recent years have placed a growing strain on the NHS, with long waiting times leading to 250 needless deaths a week in 2023. Over 65’s accounted for one third of those deaths, after having to wait in A&E for 24 hours before being admitted to hospital. In addition to this, over 65’s account for 40% of all UK hospital admissions and occupy two-thirds of hospital inpatient beds.

With an ageing population and falling birth rate, the demand for equipment that can help reduce hospitalisations is ever increasing.

Dr. Ben Maruthappu , Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Cera and former frontline doctor said, ‘I launched Cera in 2016 with an ambition to revolutionise healthcare, using technology to transform services and patient outcomes, while alleviating NHS and government pressures. With Cera already saving the NHS and Government ￡1m a day, this only reinforces the important role technology has in transforming our health and care system.’

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