Bridgit Care

Shifting the focus of healthcare innovation to support unpaid family carers

Could we shift the focus of healthcare innovation away from mainstream clinical care to help the UK’s biggest workforce, unpaid family carers? That’s the question Darren Crombie asked in the face of unprecedented pressure on the NHS. The answer was Bridgit Care.

By taking an inclusive approach and listening to the challenges people face, Bridgit Care has developed new technologies and services to support 6.5 million unpaid family carers all over the UK.

Their latest innovation helps family carers access the Statutory Assessment process from local authorities at the earliest opportunity. A new online system gives carers access to crucial resources such as respite support, financial help and community groups.

“Our mission is all about family carer empowerment. That means putting carers at the heart of every choice, idea and thing we do,” Darren says.

Winning the Innovate UK Inclusive Innovation Award will enable the team to enhance Bridgit Care’s services and share experiences with other social enterprises who want to to focus on inclusive innovation.

The Award will also provide crucial funding and networking opportunities. The next step for the business is to develop, deploy and test a new solution to enable more carers to access vital support, whilst reducing costs of council support.