Leading healthcare plan provider Simplyhealth offers Coronavirus antibody test to customers
- Public Health England approved test to be offered at home to up to 4 million people from Monday 13 July
- Test gives customers and their families access to personalised health information and support
Simplyhealth, one of the UK’s leading healthcare plan providers, is making Coronavirus antibody testing available for existing healthcare plan customers and corporate healthcare plan customers in England from Monday 13 July. These tests can determine if someone has had Covid-19 and developed antibodies which are still present in their body.
Simplyhealth is heavily subsidising the costs of the Public Health England approved test. The test, which includes a home visit by a healthcare professional to take a blood sample from a vein, will be available to eligible customers for £49. Simplyhealth is pleased to extend this offer beyond the policyholder, allowing customers to test up to four adults (over the age of 18), based at the same location, at the same time. Additional tests can also be purchased for £99 each.
Many people are thinking hard about the easing of restrictions and at Simplyhealth we are passionate about investing in our customers to give them access to the most valuable health information we can. Offering our customers access to the antibody test aligns with our purpose to make it easy for millions of people to get access to health products, services and support.
In our research, 93% of customers have told us that they would value being able to have the test which is why we have committed to deliver this service. We know that our customers have varying healthcare needs and believe an antibody test is an important way to allow them to make their own individual decisions, based on a fuller set of information. We hope the knowledge of whether virus has been present will help individuals and families to better understand and assess the choices that lie ahead of them.
While there is continued uncertainty around when the Government will be able to rollout an antibody test nationally, Simplyhealth will offer customers the only Public Health England and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved method of carrying out the test, in partnership with Square Health. Currently, this involves testing blood which is professionally drawn from a vein (a ‘venous’ sample). The healthcare professional will collect the blood sample, at the customers chosen residential location, adhering to all PPE requirements.
Customers will be contacted directly with more information and tests will be available for the next 12 months, allowing customers to choose as and when they may be tested. At this stage, tests will only be offered in England and Wales.* Results will be emailed to customers within 5–7 days and 24/7 virtual GP appointments are also available to customers to provide ongoing advice and support as needed. Anonymised results will be made available to Public Health England to help them understand more about the spread of the virus.
Square Health’s scale with over 100 software engineers, extensive medical expertise and a strong working relationship with Simplyhealth allowed it to build a rapid and holistic solution for Simplyhealth customers which is both fully compliant with current regulation and uses a test approved by PHE.
This initiative follows our recent £2m investment in PPE for Simplyhealth’s Denplan member dentists.
*Currently Public Health England has approved antibody testing for coronavirus. It is important that Simplyhealth follows public health guidance and respect government restrictions in each of the devolved nations, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. As soon as we become comfortable that our service is aligned with local guidelines, the tests will become available to Simplyhealth customers in other regions.
Since 1872 we’ve been helping people get healthcare through our health plans, charity partnerships and by being a voice in healthcare. Today we’re delighted to be the UK’s leading provider of health plans, dental plans and pet health plans, which help individuals, families, employees and pets to get support with their health when they need it.
We don’t have shareholders which means we are totally focused on making sure no one goes without the healthcare support they need, and why we are passionate about being a voice in healthcare and partnering with charities to reduce health inequality. We have a commitment to donate part of our pre-tax profits to charities or community projects each year and spread our donations across a wide range of healthcare-related charities.
In 2019 we became Official Healthcare Partner of England Rugby, a partnership that will help us deliver on our purpose and improve access to healthcare for the rugby community.
To find out more visit www.simplyhealth.co.uk
About Square Health
Founded by doctors, Square Health is a specialist digital health and wellbeing technology solutions provider that works closely alongside leading players within the insurance and corporate sectors to provide holistic medical, technological and customer service solutions for different market segments. It brings over 25 years of experience to the complex requirements of the industry, blending extensive IT and medical expertise.
Square Health supports the strategic objectives and brand values of these organisations, enabling them to provide a range of services to their end users. These include: 24/7 virtual GP consultations, mental health support, 2nd opinion services, health MOTs, prescription services, appointment booking services, specialist referrals, physiotherapy sessions, counselling and dietician appointments.
Square Health’s health technology platforms are highly flexible and allow true bespoke solutions enabling organisations to: leverage just one or some of the services available; have them either co-branded or white labelled; connect with existing healthcare networks to provide a single access point to multiple services and service providers.