On this day, exactly seven years ago Tom, Perran and Rinesh started their first day at work as co-founders of DrDoctor. They felt excited, nervous and inspired of what the future will bring. I sat down with the trio to find out how they felt today. The company has grown organically from three young and ambitious ex-consultants to our current size of 40 people with an amalgamation of backgrounds but equal drive, talent and motivation of helping the NHS.
Like in the beginning, everyone who works at DrDoctor shares the same sense of purpose and the same mission- of wanting to help make the world better for people. We approach our mission by trying to really understand people and by being humble. We create change subtly and gently and build together with the NHS and with patients.
What was your initial wish / ambition for DrDoctor 7 years ago?
Tom: Our original strapline was 'democratizing healthcare', which sounds rather vague. I think seven years ago I just wanted to prove there was a better way for patients to get an appointment.
Perran: My Initial wish was quite basic really; can we do something on our own and solve a real-world problem for other people. We started because we felt the frustration patients felt when facing a simple problem with hospital appointments. I find it amazing how quickly DrDoctor has grown into something with a life of its own and together we keep finding new problems to tackle.
Rinesh: My initial wish seven years ago was to simply change the way healthcare is being delivered by using technology at scale. We wanted the technology involved to be accessible to everyone and to make a difference to all the people involved.
What are you most proud of when coming to work every day?
Tom: Walking into the office when it's busy always makes me smile, as do our internal show and tells every other Friday. I'm always blown away by the amazing work being done.
It's pretty special when I talk to someone about DrDoctor, or go to demo to them and they say, 'hang on, I think I've used that'. It happens increasingly frequently and brings home the reach and impact we're starting to have.
Perran: I'm very proud of our team and all we have achieved. It's incredible to be working with people who care about these things too and to see them push the boundaries and have fun whilst doing it.
I can't wait to see the impact we can have for healthcare in the years to come.
Rinesh: I'm most proud of the team we have, the progress we've made, and the fact that we have not lost sight of the original motivations behind starting out in the first place.
There is nothing better than the now daily feedback we get from patients about how our technology has helped people in their healthcare journeys.
What does the future of DrDoctor look like?
Tom: I want to keep DrDoctor fiercely independent and blazing our own path through healthcare.
We're at the cusp of a revolution, and perfectly positioned to do something which makes a global positive impact. I'd like to look back on these years and think we took every opportunity offered to us, and we made a great difference.
Perran: I want to see a future with less waste in the health system for both, patients and providers of care. A future where each interaction between a patient and nurse/doctor is useful and gives the maximum value from their time.
I want DrDoctor to solve these problems on the world stage to have the biggest impact we can.
Rinesh: I want to see a future for DrDoctor with more of the same. Just faster, bigger and better!
So many people in the world don't get to access the kind of health services that can mean so much to them - I won't be happy until we've made a substantial dent in this across the world.
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The encouraging words of Tom, Perran and Rinesh resonate heavily with the rest of the DrDoctor team. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the founders for providing us with a workplace with an exceptionally inspirational, motivational and innovative culture. Not only do we get to work together to make a real difference, we also get to have so much fun while doing It!
The DrDoctor team are huge advocates for celebrating success and in true DrDoctor style we threw a fantastic 7th birthday party last week. Thank you very much to all our friends and partners who were able to make it and who helped us celebrate our journey together. Here’s to the next seven years and beyond!