Look to the future

‘Legal Briefing’

Our popular legal series for doctor entrepreneurs ends with Simon Lee’s ten tips for doctors in the process of – or who are considering – setting up online or app-based healthcare businesses.

‘Look to the future now: it’s only just begun.’ So sang Wolverhamp­ton glam-rockers Slade in their famous Christmas hit.

Now, I know it is still probably a little early to be getting ready for Christmas, but these particular words do nevertheless seem an apt way of bringing to a close our series of articles on healthcare start-ups and the increasing use of apps and technology for delivering health services.

Even in the few months since our first article appeared, things have not stood still, and nor would we expect them to.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) in particular has started publishing its first reports into such healthcare providers and so, in this piece, we look at some of the learning points and warning signs already laid out, as well as offer a reminder of some of the key areas of learning from previous articles in the series.