This month, we wanted to shine a light on Doc Abode’s CEO and founder Dr Taz Aldawoud, an entrepreneurial GP who has also held a number of regional and national roles in the NHS and has an MBA with specialism in Strategic Management in Healthcare.
Taz has many achievements under his belt, including pioneering the development of a national award-winning Telehealth service for NHS patients through his role as Director of Clinical Innovation at Local Care Direct (NHS out of hours provider). Taz is also a Clinical Board member and Chief Clinical Information Office (CCIO) for Bradford District’s Clinical Commissioning Group and previously worked at a national level through his role as Clinical Adviser and ‘Digital Clinical Champion’ for NHS England.
Where did the concept for Doc Abode come from?
“I’m passionate about creating a safer and more responsive healthcare system and reducing health inequalities through the enabler of digital technologies within the NHS. But behind all the technological advancements, there still needs to be a person-centred approach to the delivery of care as a diverse population requires a diverse health and care workforce to fully understand and meet the needs of patients.
“My vision for Doc Abode is to develop innovative solutions to support the NHS workforce of the future, transforming healthcare delivery to meet increasing demand and complex needs of our patients. It is designed to enable NHS organisations to easily adapt by widening the network of a flexible, sustainable and local clinical workforce; boosting the adaptability of the workforce through a flexible talent mix and new ways of working, ultimately allowing a flexible work/life balance in today’s 24/7 culture and expectations.”
Where did the company name come from?
“The company is named Doc Abode partly because of our first use case in GP visits and more importantly for me, in memory and tribute to my late friend and mentor Dr Abod who always believed in my vision and encouraged me to make it a reality.”
What are your plans for Doc Abode?
“Like most organisations over the last two years, we have pivoted to meet the demands of NHS services. Using the foundations of our on-demand platform, we have built Doc Abode out to become a full workforce management solution; still offering healthcare providers the ability to tap into ad hoc resource at times of escalation, but with a wraparound platform that also supports the management of operations and resources for planned care too.
“Our intention is to build a national profile for Doc Abode as a leading provider of integrated digital workforce solutions for the NHS, delivering superior efficiency for organisations and ultimately bringing more benefits to NHS patients.
“We want to be able to clearly evidence our effectiveness, value for money and return on investment through real-world evaluations along with exploring the wider health economic benefits of the platform. We are also supporting the Greener NHS programme by accelerating the Net Zero NHS agenda.
“I have a vision to grow Doc Abode at pace and scale so that, once we are in a position to, we can pursue social causes that are close to our hearts and ensure we can provide sustainable philanthropic services in addition to our commercial operations.”
What does life look like for Dr Aldawoud outside of Doc Abode?
“Running a tech business as well as all the other hats I wear is definitely more than a full time job so there’s not much spare time! But I continue to work in these roles because I’m passionate about ensuring the NHS has a sustainable future and believe that a human-centred approach to technology will go a long way to achieving this.
“Work aside, my main priority is spending time with my family – I have a wonderfully supportive wife and two brilliant daughters who amaze me with their achievements and resilience every day.
“I also enjoy sharing my experience of setting up Doc Abode with other tech entrepreneursso I spend time mentoring and speaking at events to provide support and advice to others embarking on this journey.”
And just for fun… who would play you in a film of your life, and why?
“Ken Jeong (of The Hangover and Community fame) – not many people know he was a GP before he became an actor!”