Health Squared News Feed

Health Squared lands mobile GP communications brief

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 16:00:45 GMT

Health Squared Communications completes GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards

24 October 2006

Pearl Medical, the largest mobile community of GPs using BlackBerry devices, has appointed Health Squared Communications to handle its marketing and public relations strategy.

Pearl Medical, who jointly launched mobilised patient records with EMIS earlier this month, has appointed the agency following initial work it carried out to launch the new service for healthcare professionals earlier this year.

Pearl Medical currently has 1500 GPs using its service that provides healthcare professionals with access to NHS Mail on the move, shared practice calendars, the ability to view and edit documents while out of the surgery and to access patient records via the BlackBerry device provided as part of the membership.

The London based organisation, managed by Andrew Wigmore, the founder of Health Media and former political advisor, will be working with the Pearl Medical management to further build the membership base and present the case for increased use of mobile technology in healthcare to stakeholders and to the media.

Commenting on the appointment, Andrew Wigmore said: "Healthcare is the fastest growing sector in the UK, both in terms of demand and new innovative solutions to meet it. Our appointment by Pearl Medical adds to our already extensive list of clients who are leading the way in their respective fields, and we are delighted to be working with a company that looks to change the face of healthcare and the way it is delivered in Britain."

Heading the Health Squared Communications account team is Group Communications Manager Alastair Cartwright. Formerly Account Manager at Eloqui PR and Citigate Communications, Alastair joined Health Squared in April to boost the marketing and PR team.

ENDS

For further information please contact:
Alastair Cartwright
020 7486 6660
07917 403090
alastair@healthsquared.co.uk

Health Squared Technology wins website development brief

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:57:42 GMT

Health Squared Communications completes GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards

11 January 2007

Health Squared has been awarded the contract to run the website of the Claims Standards Council (CSC), and to produce and publish its weekly news bulletin. The CSC is the professional body and trade association for the claims management and handling sector. The website will feature content for members and for the public. The weekly news bulletin is already well established, having been produced by the CSC itself for the last two years. Health Squared Group’s managing director, Andrew Wigmore, says. "This is good news for us and for the CSC – I anticipate that it is the start of a mutually very rewarding association."

ENDS

For further information please contact:
Chris Sheppard
020 7486 6660
chris@healthsquared.co.uk

Health Squared wins publishing contract

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:49:15 GMT

Health Squared Communications completes GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards

22 March 2007

ENDS

For further information please contact:
Chris Sheppard
020 7486 6660
chris@healthsquared.co.uk

Health Squared launches new Digital Communications division

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:43:07 GMT

Health Squared Communications completes GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards

2 April 2007

Health Squared, the marketing communications and technology consultancy, today announces the launch of its new digital communications division. The new division will specialise in podcast creation and adds to its existing technology offering of website design and hosting, technology platform building and Intranet-extranet creation.

The new Podcast offering, already being piloted with clients, will see a range of law and health related Podcasts being developed and distributed via i-Tunes, both business to business and consumer led content. Two major projects are underway, both of which will be launched over the coming months.

Andrew Wigmore, Managing Director of Health Squared, said: 'Podcasting is set to be the preferred way professionals and consumers receive information and news content. A recent BBC report said that by 2010 three-quarters of all people who own portable digital music players will listen to podcasts, a growth from less than 15% last year. Any communications company worth its salt needs to be investing and offering this to clients if they are to stay ahead of their game.'

ENDS

No improvement in NHS services over last 5 years

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 15:35:42 GMT

No improvement in NHS services over last 5 years

3 April 2007

A massive 73 per cent of the general public do not believe that there has been any improvement in NHS Services over the last five years – new research published today shows.

The 'National Health Report', a quarterly review of the UK publics' and patients' opinions on healthcare, GP and NHS services, produced by Health Squared Communications in partnership with Opinion Health, also examined peoples' biggest fears when using NHS hospitals. When asked what their biggest concern was in regard to treatment in NHS hospitals, nearly half said it was contracting MRSA. This fear is worse amongst those aged 55 years and over. Almost six in ten said hygiene and cleanliness was average or not good. Only 9 per cent of respondents have no concern regarding treatment in NHS hospitals.

It's not all bad news though; over 65 per cent thought the professionalism of NHS staff they interacted with was good. This was echoed in the friendliness of staff with over 70 per cent rating friendliness as good.

Asked if NHS services had improved over the past five years, only 21 per cent believed that they had. When asked about the role of the private sector in providing healthcare, 32 per cent believed there should be more involvement. One in ten said the private sector should totally withdraw, and only 14 per cent called for a reduced role.

Andrew Wigmore, Managing Director of Health Squared, commented: 'When we commissioned this report we had no idea about the strength of feeling about the NHS's current plight. However, all was not bad as far as GP services were concerned, with 75 per cent of those we surveyed happy with the service. We hope that our reports will prove useful as we continue to examine consumer attitudes on the effectiveness of the NHS and the major health issues of the day.'

The 'National Health Report' results are based on a sample of around 2300 members of the general public. The survey, commissioned by Health Squared Communications, the specialist health communications consultancy, in partnership with Opinion Health, the online health-focused research company, will provide a regular quarterly monitor of the perceptions, opinions and experiences of the general public, as well as patients' opinions of NHS services. These results will be reported back to stakeholders, the NHS and more importantly the patients themselves.

A full copy of the survey results is available to download from http://www.healthsquared.co.uk/communications/nationalhealthreport

ENDS

For more information please contact: Alastair Cartwright, Health Squared Communications 020 7486 6660 07917 403090 alastair@healthsquared.co.uk

Notes to Editors

About Health Squared Communications:

Health Squared Communications is part of the Health Squared Group of companies and is one of the UK's leading health focused marketing communications and strategic partnership establishing consultancies. It specialises in managing issues, marketing, PR and reputations across the health sectors. Health Squared Group is the parent company of a number of divisions operating in the media arena. Its divisions provide consultancy services, website design and development, media buying, broadcast and podcast services. For more information visit: www.healthsquared.co.uk

About Opinion Health:

Opinion Health is a full-service online market research and fieldwork company that specialises in online surveys, provision of samples and data delivery and analysis for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry.

Opinion Health's unique proposition is its exclusive health focus and its commitment to work with all stakeholders in the industry to raise awareness around key health issues. It provides clients with access to a highly engaged and motivated research panel made up of the general population as well as of people with specific health conditions and of carers. As part of its flexible reward system and social engagement it also gives panel members the opportunity to donate their incentives to a charity of their choice.

For more information about Opinion Health visit: www.opinionhealth.co.uk Or contact: Michele Poliziani on 020 7486 6700 / Email: michele@opinionhealth.co.uk

New Appointment Brings Added Expertise

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:26:57 GMT

New Appointment Brings Added Expertise

7 June 2007

Health Squared, the marketing communications and digital media company, has appointed a Group Business Development Manager to focus on new business and expansion of its events and digital media services.

Philippa Robins joins the Health Squared team from Insurance Times where she headed up the events sales team. At Health Squared, Philippa will focus on bringing in new business for its marketing communications, website development and digital media teams, as well as securing sponsorship for events spanning the insurance, personal injury and charity sectors.

Andrew Wigmore, Managing Director of Health Squared, said: "With a strong background in events and sales, Philippa is bringing strong contacts and credentials to the company".

“Having been a client of hers while she was at Insurance Times, I know the drive, dedication and good client handling skills she possesses, all of which will strengthen the existing team.”

Most recently, Philippa co-ordinated and secured commercial support for the Climate Change 2007 event. Aimed at the general insurance sector, it attracted over 240 delegates from the UK and global insurance market. She also secured sponsorship for the Insurance Times Awards, as well as being involved in event management.

ENDS

Claims Direct appoints Health Squared for website relaunch

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:12:30 GMT

Claims Direct appoints Health Squared for website relaunch

13 June 2007

Claims Direct, the personal injury claims brand, has appointed London-based communications and digital technology consultancy Health Squared to redesign its website www.claimsdirect.co.uk in advance of the launch of multi-million pound advertising campaign later this month.

The relaunch and advertising campaigns come aheahttp://127.0.0.1:3000/admin/pages/edit/42d of the introduction of the Legal Services Act that opens up the provision of legal services to High Street names and other brands not traditionally operating in the legal arena. The relaunch aims to establish Claims Direct as the leading household brand for consumer legal services.

Andy Hoe, the marketing director of Russell Jones & Walker, owner of Claims Direct, said: "Having a modern consumer focused website is paramount to the relaunch of Claims Direct. The TV, radio and Internet advertising will commence on and around 18 June with a strong focus on directing people to the website to find out more information and start their claims process."

The new website, which is now live, has been overhauled to create an easy-to-use portal that is accessible to all. The content, all jargon-free and written in plain English, covers an expanded range of claim areas and enables visitors to the site to create claims online or request a call back from a Claims Direct advisor at a convenient time. The website is also disability friendly.

The launch will be backed with a significant Pay Per Click campaign with Google, Yahoo! And MSN.

ENDS

For further information contact:

Health Squared: Alastair Cartwright, Group Communications Manager, Health Squared, 020 7486 6660, alastair@healthsquared.co.uk

Or at Russell Jones & Walker: Andy Hoe, Marketing Director, 020 7837 2808, a.r.hoe@rjw.co.uk

Health Squared Communications completes GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:40:27 GMT

Health Squared Communications completes GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards

2 July 2007

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the World’s leading pharmaceutical company, appointed Health Squared Communications in January this year to manage the marketing, PR and event management around its annual GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards.

The GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards, which took place in April, recognise the outstanding work of voluntary organisations working in the community health sector. The awards are run in partnership with the Kings Fund, a leading independent health charity.

The 2007 GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT awards marked the tenth anniversary of the awards and Health Squared Communications ws appointed to deliver a revamped ceremony and secure local and national PR for the awards. Ten awards of £20,000 were made to each individual organisation plus the overall winner was awarded an additional £10,000. Ten highly commended organisations were awarded £5,000 and a further five runners-up received £1,000. Health Squared has also been tasked with publicity around the application process for the 2008 awards.

Commenting on its appointment for the 2007 GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT awards, Andrew Wigmore, Managing Director of Health Squared, said: “Community programmes such as the GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards give invaluable recognition to the outstanding efforts made by voluntary organisations that have a demonstrable impact on the health of local communities. We were brought on board to boost the tenth anniversary event and carry out national and regional media relations, helping to highlight GlaxoSmithKline’s commitment to community development and the work of the winning organisations in meeting local healthcare needs.”

The 2007 GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards were held at the National Gallery in London on 17th April 2007. Applications for the 2008 awards will be accepted from July 2007. To apply, go to www.kingsfund.org.uk

For more information visit: http://www.gsk.com/community/impact_awards_uk.htm

ENDS

For further information please contact:
Alastair Cartwright
020 7486 6660
07917 403090
alastair@healthsquared.co.uk

Health Squared wins three year contract with leading UK pharma

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 12:56:57 GMT

Health Squared wins three year contract with leading UK pharma

1 December 2007

GlaxoSmithKline, one of the worlds leading pharmaceutical companies, has appointed Health Squared Communications to consult on their flagship UK healthcare corporate social responsibility programme, the GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards.

GlaxoSmithKline has contracted the agency for a three-year period following its initial work in 2007. It was appointed to increase the national profile of the scheme and spice up the 10th annual award ceremony.

The GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards, run in partnership with leading heath care organisation The King’s Fund, recognise and reward the work of small to medium sized charities that are carrying out outstanding work to improve the health of their communities. Over the last 11 years, GlaxoSmithKline has recognised 220 community healthcare charities in the UK, with awards totaling more than £2 million.

The London based full-service agency will be working with the corporate contributions teams at GlaxoSmithKline and the funding and development team at The Kings Fund to assist in the selection process, produce promotional literature, garner maximum press coverage for the scheme and the winning organisations. Health Squared is also involved in all areas of the event management for the ceremony as well as the production of video footage of the organisations at work for the event and for their own promotional use in the future.

Katie Pinnock, Director of UK Corporate Contributions for GlaxoSmithKline said: “We wanted to give people a full and strong sense of the impact that our chosen charities have on their service users. Health Squared came up with the idea of visiting each of them in their own environment and creating audiovisual glimpses at what they achieve. They proved an extremely moving addition to the 2007 award winners’ event and has marked a change in the way the awards are perceived both within GSK and the charitable sector as a whole.”

Following the work of Health Squared in 2007, not only did the number of applications from local healthcare organisations increase significantly, but publicity for the winners augmented by fifty percent, as did attendance at the ceremony. National media coverage was also obtained in 2007 for the first time in the history of the IMPACT Awards.

Heading the Health Squared team is Communications Manager Alastair Cartwright. Formerly an Account Manager at Eloqui PR and Citigate Communications, Alastair joined Health Squared in April 2006.

Health Squared wins brief for breast cancer insurer

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:22:19 GMT

Health Squared wins brief for breast cancer insurer

12 June 2008

insurepink, the first insurance product to offer accessible travel insurance for breast cancer sufferers, has appointed Health Squared Communications to undertake media relations on a 12 month contract.

insurepink, launched in October 2007 by Fiona Macrae at Equity Insurance Group, was established following her personal experiences of being unable to obtain affordable travel insurance while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. insurepink aims to offer the 41,000 women diagnosed every year case-specific rates that reflect the true, rather than perceived, risk of travelling with breast cancer, and dispense with the intrusive and insensitive questions many sufferers are subjected to at present. £1 for every policy sold is donated to the Pink Ribbon Foundation, a grant making trust, which supports breast cancer charities both big and small.

Health Squared, the leading healthcare communications agency, has been employed to maximise the publicity surrounding the launch of insurepink's car and home insurance policies as well as sustain and boost media interest.

Health Squared will handle national and consumer media coverage, and support Equity Insurance Group's expansion of the brand as it aims to right the inequalities in obtaining affordable insurance cover for many other pre-existing medical conditions.

Fiona Macrae, founder of insurepink, said: "We are looking to cement our position as standard setters for the insurance industry. We plan to build on the foundations laid by insurepink and provide alternative insurance products that allow consumers to support a good cause and raise money to fight disease. Health Squared is essential in raising awareness of the ethical nature of the scheme, and we see the agency as a vital cog in our expanding wheel."

Heading the Health Squared Communications account team is Group Communications Manager, Alastair Cartwright. Formerly an Account Manager at Eloqui PR and Citigate Communications, Alastair joined Health Squared in April 2006.

ENDS

For further information please contact:
Emma-Fleur Hartley or Alastair Cartwright
Health Squared Communications
020 7486 6660
emma@healthsquared.co.uk
alastair@healthsquared.co.uk