PocDoc, Starlink Bring Digital Health To Every Corner Of UK

PocDoc, a digital diagnostics company, has partnered with Starlink to bring at-home and community-based health screening to areas without mobile coverage. In what it calls an industry-first, PocDoc’s flagship Healthy Heart Check can now run fully offline via Starlink’s satellite network, extending preventative care to millions in even the most remote parts of the UK.

The collaboration launched at Middlesbrough Mela, a festival with little mobile signal, where the service screened hundreds of people in 24 hours. The test uses a simple finger-prick blood sample to deliver cholesterol and diabetes profiles, BMI, heart age, and a ten-year cardiovascular risk score through PocDoc’s smartphone platform. NHS research suggests each check saves 20 minutes of GP time and that early detection could prevent up to 80% of cardiovascular disease cases, potentially saving 136,000 lives annually.

The partnership builds on PocDoc’s rollout of the Healthy Heart Check across North East and North Cumbria, where Starlink is already enabling access to underserved communities. Working with NHS bodies and major pharmacy chains, the company aims to reach half a million people by the end of 2025. This follows the launch of the world’s first smartphone-based HbA1c blood test for type 2 diabetes earlier this year, furthering its role in advancing preventative care.

PocDoc CEO Steve Roest said the partnership ensures “everyone in the UK deserves access to the same preventative care, no matter their postcode,” while Julia Newton, Medical Director at Health Innovation NENC, praised the impact on reaching patients who might otherwise go without essential checks.