ELAROS: tracking long covid app
ELAROS, with support from HI NENC, developed a Digital Bladder Diary, which during the COVID-19 pandemic was repurposed into an App and corresponding platform to support patients with Long Covid. This App-based innovation was developed in just seven months, is now used by over 60 NHS Trusts, and has attracted international interest, including Ireland and Australia. ELAROS secured £100,000 in funding from HI HENC, formerly AHSN NENC, and now employs 13 staff, is working with over 40 universities, and has set up the first of three new companies: https://www.mi-trial.com
Contact Details
- Professor Paul O’Brien - CEO
- Elaros
- [email protected]
- https://www.elaros.com/
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The support received from HI NENC was critical to the development and deployment of the Long Covid App. The software development, IP advice and protection as well as the funding and support for the initial product – the Bladder diary – meant when C-19 struck we had the groundwork and infrastructure in place to rapidly meet this need within our healthcare system.
During the Pandemic, the need to manage Long Covid symptoms became a growing challenge for healthcare organisations, globally. ELAROS identified this as a significant healthcare issue and recognised their existing Digital Bladder Diary product could be readily adapted to meet this new demand. Further, clinicians required a digital tool to assess, triage, track, and manage Long Covid symptoms, and there was a clear need for a scalable, patient-facing solution to support healthcare systems worldwide.
ELAROS developed a web-based, patient-facing App in seven months. The platform, which was initially designed for bladder health, was adapted to assess and manage Long Covid symptoms, providing support to both patients and clinicians.
The App allowed patients to record their symptoms using a dedicated Patient Reported Outcome Measure (PROM), as well as recording over 50 other PROMS, which enabled healthcare teams to remotely access this information and alter an individuals treatment, where necessary.
In collaboration with Professor Manoj Sivan – an advisor to the World Health Organisation, ELAROS rapidly adapted their existing platform and developed an App to track Long Covid symptoms.
Once the UK government recognised the existence of Long Covid (which now impacts 2,100,000 in the UK), they provided funding to establish over 90 dedicated clinics. As part of this, the innovation developed by ELAROS and Professor Sivan was written into NHS England and NICE guidance.
In Scotland, NHS Scotland commissioned ELAROS’s service centrally for all 14 of its Health Boards.
This system is now deployed in over 60 NHS Trusts and Health Boards to assess Long Covid patients using the C19-YRS scale. The App has further gained interest from hospitals in Ireland and is set to expand internationally, including some global partnerships outside of Europe.
The ELAROS Long Covid App has had a major impact on patient care and research, with over 30,000 patients and research participants using (or have used) the system. It has become a critical tool for the national evaluation of Long Covid in both NHS England and NHS Scotland. Leading universities such as Oxford, Leeds, and Imperial College, are also using the platform and corresponding App. By offering a digital solution to track patient symptoms, the App has improved patient care while also contributing to ongoing Long Covid research.
In March 2024, Cambridge Econometrics undertook modelling work that in its worst case shows a potential £4.2 Billion hit to the UK economy, as a result of Long Covid.
In March 2025, ELAROS launched a new standalone version of the existing system which allows patients anywhere in the world to download the App through their usual App store and share their data with their own clinicians.
This App-based innovation is now used by over 60 NHS Trusts, and has attracted international interest, including Ireland and Australia. ELAROS secured £100,000 in funding from HI HENC, formerly AHSN NENC, and now employs 13 staff, is working with over 40 universities,
Patient view:
“I found the app easy to download and very user friendly. I’m looking forward to using it more and intrigued as to the next step, hoping it will help me to get the right support and care.” Sarah Bleasdale, Long Covid Patient
Clinicians view:
“The App means information can now be sent electronically direct to the Long Covid Clinic Team, so they have information ahead of appointments. We can even decide on the length and type of appointments using the tool to match the needs of the patient.
The tool will also help with reporting data required for long Covid at a national level.” Sarah Cannon, Programme Manager, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust
“Lanarkshire have been so impressed with the capacity and capability the digital C19-YRS system brings to our Long Covid Rehabilitation Pathway. Since adoption, people with Long Covid have their initial screening three weeks faster, on average, meaning they are triaged and added to the waiting list 3 weeks sooner.
Administration report a 90% reduction in time spent supporting screening. Clinicians have easy access to questionnaires and summary reports with a 50% reduction in the time taken to triage each person.”
Abi Campbell, Clinical Service Lead, NHS Lanarkshire
The ELAROS platform reduces the need for most face-to-face appointments, allowing patients to communicate with their clinicians through the app and to share ongoing data safely/securely.
Shift from hospital care to at home, supports digital agenda.
HI NENC provided critical funding, project management, and stakeholder coordination, helping ELAROS successfully pivot its digital diary platform and achieve significant growth and adoption across the NHS. HI NENC provided £100,000 funding to the ELAROS project allowing the innovation to be brought to life and also provided advice on Intellectual Property and branding.
ELAROS plans to expand the platform’s use internationally. The company continues to work with leading universities and NHS organisations to further develop the platform for use in broader healthcare settings and in world class research.
In 2025, ELAROS will launch a new long-term condition management platform, Autonom-e, to support a range of different clinical services in the NHS and internationally including Stroke, ME/CFS, Post-Viral Illness, Rheumatology and more, building on the successes of the C19-YRS platform.
Furthermore, in 2025, ELAROS will launch a consumer-facing occupational health app, Open-OH, aimed at supporting many of the 2.8 million people out of work due to long-term sickness relating to Long Covid, ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia, and Mental Health.