Thom Van Every

Last updated

Dr Thom Van Every is a UK trained medical doctor, entrepreneur and children's author. He is considered a pioneer in the UK of online medical services having launched through his website Dr Thom the first regulated online medical clinic, [1] the first home HIV testing service, [2] and in partnership with the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust the first NHS online service. [3] He appeared on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour discussing a DIY cervical smear test using a tampon. [4]

He grew up in Guildford and graduated from the University of Birmingham Medical School in 1995. While at medical school, he served in the Territorial Army Royal Army Medical Corps, attached to 202 General Hospital in the Midlands, and was promoted to the rank of Captain. He is a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He also holds an MBA from London Business School. [5]

Dr Thom was purchased by pharmacy chain Lloydspharmacy in 2011. [6]

He also co-founded and acted as Medical Director for a private medical insurance provider called PatientChoice. [7] PatientChoice was purchased by Westfield Health in 2011. [8]

He was also a co-founding investor and advisor to California-based telemedicine business Lemonaid Health, which was purchased by 23AndMe in 2021. [9]

He is the author the children's picture book 'The Strictest Teacher in All of France', [10] which is also available in French. [11] He created the board game Smoothie Wars. [12]

In 2014 he completed a solo swim of the English Channel in just over 14hrs. [13] He has also completed a swim from Robben Island to Cape Town, Alcatraz and the Lake Zurich 26 km marathon swim. [14] [15]

He most recently worked for ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture between GSK, Pfizer and Shionogi, focused on HIV, [16] and was previously Executive Director of ViiV's 'hive' digital innovation unit. [17] Under his leadership the ViiV hive led the development of KLICK, an award-winning service redesign using digital technologies for people living with HIV at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, now used by over five thousand patients, [18] and Germany's first online and postal HIV and sexually transmitted disease testing service. [19] He also sat on the Advisory Board of Ieso Digital Health, a provider of internet-enabled CBT [20] and HomeTouch, an elderly care digital service. [21] He is also an investor in PatientsKnowBest. [22]

In July 2024 he was elected Chair of the Guildford Conservative Association. [23] He has also campaigned on behalf of swimmers at Guildford Lido to keep the lido open over winter periods. [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Health and Social Care</span> Ministerial department of the UK Government

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Northern Ireland Executive. It oversees the English National Health Service (NHS). The department is led by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care with three ministers of state and three parliamentary under-secretaries of state.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a British public sector healthcare provider located in Cambridge, England. It was established on 4 November 1992 as Addenbrooke's National Health Service Trust, and authorised as an NHS foundation trust under its current name on 1 July 2004.

Southampton General Hospital (SGH) is a large teaching hospital in Southampton, Hampshire, England run by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.

LloydsPharmacy was the trading name of Lloyds Pharmacy Ltd, a British pharmacy company, which was formed by a merger in 1998 and by 2021 was the second-largest community pharmacy company in the UK. The company, which was owned by McKesson Corporation from 2014 and Aurelius Group from 2022, ceased trading in November 2023 and later entered voluntary liquidation. Some stores were closed and the remaining 1,054 were sold to new owners.

AIDS was first diagnosed in 1981. As of year-end 2018, 160,493 people have been diagnosed with HIV in the United Kingdom and an estimated 7,500 people are living undiagnosed with HIV. New diagnoses are highest in gay/bisexual men, with an estimated 51% of new diagnosis reporting male same-sex sexual activity as the probable route of infection. Between 2009 and 2018 there was a 32% reduction in new HIV diagnosis, attributed by Public Health England (PHE) to better surveillance and education. PHE has described an "outbreak" in Glasgow amongst people who inject drugs, and has campaigns targeting men who have sex with men in London and other major cities. London was the first city in the world to reach the World Health Organization target for HIV, set at 90% of those with HIV diagnosed, 90% of those diagnosed on HAART and 90% of those on HAART undetectable. The UK as a whole later achieved the same target. Under the Equality Act 2010, it is illegal to discriminate against someone based on their HIV status in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom</span>

Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom provide emergency care to people with acute illness or injury and are predominantly provided free at the point of use by the four National Health Services (NHS) of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is only free to UK residents and a charge may be made to those not entitled to free NHS care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healthcare in the United Kingdom</span>

Healthcare in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter, with England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each having their own systems of publicly funded healthcare, funded by and accountable to separate governments and parliaments, together with smaller private sector and voluntary provision. As a result of each country having different policies and priorities, a variety of differences have developed between these systems since devolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">23andMe</span> American personal genomics company

23andMe Holding Co. is an American personal genomics and biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, California. It is best known for providing a direct-to-consumer genetic testing service in which customers provide a saliva sample that is laboratory analysed, using single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping, to generate reports relating to the customer's ancestry and genetic predispositions to health-related topics. The company's name is derived from the 23 pairs of chromosomes in a diploid human cell.

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is an NHS trust based in London, England. It is one of the largest NHS trusts in England and together with Imperial College London forms an academic health science centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Health Service (England)</span> Publicly-funded healthcare system in England

The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded healthcare system in England, and one of the four National Health Service systems in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest single-payer healthcare system in the world after the Brazilian Sistema Único de Saúde. Primarily funded by the government from general taxation, and overseen by the Department of Health and Social Care, the NHS provides healthcare to all legal English residents and residents from other regions of the UK, with most services free at the point of use for most people. The NHS also conducts research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Health Service</span> Publicly-funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom

The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom, comprising the NHS in England, NHS Scotland and NHS Wales. Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland was created separately and is often locally referred to as "the NHS". The original three systems were established in 1948 as part of major social reforms following the Second World War. The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery—a health service based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, provided without charge for residents of the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care. In England, NHS patients have to pay prescription charges; some, such as those aged over 60, or those on certain state benefits, are exempt.

An outpatient department or outpatient clinic is the part of a hospital designed for the treatment of outpatients, people with health problems who visit the hospital for diagnosis or treatment, but do not at this time require a bed or to be admitted for overnight care. Modern outpatient departments offer a wide range of treatment services, diagnostic tests and minor surgical procedures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avert (HIV and AIDS organisation)</span> British charitable organization

Avert is an international charity that uses digital communications to increase health literacy on HIV and sexual health, among those most affected in areas of greatest need, in order to reduce new infections and improve health and well-being.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jules Eden</span> British Doctor, Businessman, Broadcaster, Medical Consultant

Julian (Jules) Christopher Paul Eden is an author, journalist, businessman and former doctor with specialisms in remote medicine and dive medicine. He was the founder of the UK's first online medical clinic, e-Med in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Kelsey</span>

Tim Kelsey is an English-Australian business executive. He is CEO of Beamtree,, an Australian healthcare company (ASX:BMT) based in Sydney, Australia. He started in the role in December 2020.

111 is a free-to-call single non-emergency number medical helpline operating in England, Scotland and Wales. The 111 phone service has replaced the various non-geographic 0845 rate numbers and is part of each country's National Health Service: in England the service is known as NHS 111; in Scotland, NHS 24; and in Wales, NHS111 Wales.

e-med is an online medical site based in the UK, staffed and owned by doctors. It is notable for being the first web portal to offer consultation, diagnosis, referral and prescription services to remote patients via email and Skype video conferencing, and for a controversial General Medical Council case.

DrThom is a UK-based commercial online doctor service, also operating in Ireland and Australia. It is 100% owned by LloydsPharmacy, which is in turn owned by a leading international wholesale and retail company McKesson Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust</span> NHS foundation trust in Southampton

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust which operates the University Hospital Southampton. Within this hospital are the Southampton General Hospital, the Southampton Children's Hospital and the Princess Anne Hospital. All hospitals are based on the same site, with them collectively having 1,362 beds - making it the second largest hospital by beds in the UK. The trust employs 12,321 as of 2024. The trust is one of few in the UK that has Major Trauma Centre. While the General Hospital has a catchment of 1.9 million people, the Major Trauma Centre has a catchment of 3.7 million people. The trust also provides services at the New Forest Birth Centre, the Royal South Hants Hospital and the Lymington New Forest Hospital.

Greg Owen is a UK-born activist who started a website to make generic pre-exposure prophylaxis medication (PrEP) accessible to prevent HIV infection.

References

  1. ↑ "Web clinic gains Healthcare Commission registration" . Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  2. ↑ "BBC NEWS - Health - HIV home screening kit launched". bbc.co.uk. 28 December 2006. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  3. ↑ The Independent
  4. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour - DIY Smears. Effective or creating unnecessary anxiety?". bbc.co.uk. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 9 Feb 2024.
  5. ↑ "Interview with Dr Thom van Every, Founder of DrThom". 16 February 2012.
  6. ↑ "Lloydspharmacy takes control of DrThom.com". retailgazette.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Insurers scramble to win back premium-shy patients". The Daily Telegraph . 3 July 2004. Archived from the original on 2016-03-01.
  8. ↑ "Doctors' Digest - Hundreds of articles from GoPrivate.com specialists". www.privatehealth.co.uk.
  9. ↑ "23andMe to buy telehealth firm Lemonaid for $400 MLN". Reuters. 22 October 2021.
  10. ↑ Van Every, Thom (22 August 2022). The Strictest Teacher in All of France. Thom Van Every. ISBN   978-1802277555.
  11. ↑ Van Every, Thom (2 February 2024). L’Institutrice La Plus Sévère de France. Thom Van Every. ISBN   978-1738504008.
  12. ↑ "Smoothie Wars - the smoothie-selling-showdown". 1 October 2024.
  13. ↑ "Thomas Van Every CS&PF English Channel swim database". Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation. 14 March 2024.
  14. ↑ Andre Langlois (16 September 2014). "Success for Guildford solo channel swimmer". getsurrey. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "Results - Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team - 28. Int. Self-Transcendence Marathon Swim" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  16. ↑ "Upcoming Events – Wearables & Monitoring Conference – Digital Catapult Centre – A national centre to rapidly advance the UK's best digital ideas". Archived from the original on 2015-06-24. Retrieved 2015-06-24.
  17. ↑ "Community spirit". 25 August 2016.
  18. ↑ "HSJ Awards". 21 March 2024.
  19. ↑ "German postal STI service". 12 February 2024.
  20. ↑ "Home". iesohealth.com.
  21. ↑ "Learn more about Hometouch | Dementia Live-in Care".
  22. ↑ "Dr Thom Van Every spends 5 Mins with PatientsCreate". Archived from the original on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  23. ↑ "Guildford Conservative Association". 22 August 2024.
  24. ↑ "Swimmers push for return of all-year opening at lido". 16 September 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.