According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the second leading cause of death globally is cancer, as it accounted for an estimated 9.6 million deaths or one in six deaths in 2018. As the cancer burden continues to grow globally, it exerts tremendous physical, emotional and financial strain on individuals, families, communities and health systems.
To support the healthcare industry and simultaneously bring life-changing innovation, several startups in the UK are working to fight this deadly disease. Looking to bring in awareness, care, and ease to patients and caregivers, is London-based Perci Health.
Claiming to be the world’s first online platform that gives people access to support from multidisciplinary cancer teams, this female-led startup has launched with £1.5 million seed funding. The backers are an assortment of influential oncologists and cancer surgeons from major cancer centres across the UK.
Driving the future of health tech
Perci’s mission is to proactively challenge the current status quo for those living with cancer and change perceptions about life after treatment. It offers clients access to a range of vetted, high quality cancer professionals – all with a minimum of three years cancer experience – focused on recovery from a physical, mental, social and emotional point-of-view.
Women entrepreneurs leading the way
The women-led startup was co-founded by Kelly McCabe, a registered oncology dietitian, and Morgan Fitzsimons, the former global head of marketing at ASOS and digital director at CBS Television in New York.
Talking about this new venture, McCabe said: “People living with cancer experience a wide range of physical and psychosocial effects. Despite the fantastic treatment traditional healthcare providers offer, they’re not well-equipped to manage these diverse, on-going, personalised needs thereafter – and once the primary cancer treatment has come to an end, many people describe feeling ‘abandoned’.
“At Perci, we’re focused on making affordable, high quality cancer care more accessible to support people in making the best decisions about their long-term health and wellbeing. We strongly believe no treatable side effect should be left untreated. We’ve brought together an incredible collective of caring experts who are passionate about reducing the ripple effects of cancer, for individuals, their loved ones and society as a whole.”
Holistic support
The startup provides long-term, holistic support to people living with cancer by connecting them with qualified cancer specialists, including dieticians, physiotherapists, psychologists and sexual medicine practitioners.
The professionals at the startup can help with all sorts of problems that people living with cancer and their families may face. Everything is covered and will be completely tailored to the individual. These include the management of chronic fatigue, relationship counselling, advice on helping communicate with children, support in safely returning to work, genetic counselling for those with a strong family history of cancer, management of sexual consequences or menopausal effects, dietary advice and more.
How does it work?
People can browse trusted and safe articles on the platform, as well as book a free session with a Perci Expert – who are all trained cancer nurses. Clients can also speak with a range of qualified cancer professionals such as dietitians, psychologists, physiotherapists and psychosexual therapists, who offer a range of personalised, holistic support. The designated professional will create a personalised plan for the individual which can also be shared with their medical team if requested.
McCabe added: “Our services are non-discriminative, with all cancer types, ethnicities and sexes catered for equally. We debunk a one-size-fits-all approach, championing an individually tailored approach which empowers people to become active participants before, during and beyond cancer treatment.”
Perci doesn’t offer alternative therapies, instead focuses on evidence-based and research-backed care delivered by qualified professionals to support and improve wellbeing, while being governed by the UK’s leading oncologist and cancer surgeons.
