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Helping world-changing healthtech innovations get to those who need them most.
In our years in the NHS ecosystem, we’ve witnessed many amazing innovations, with the potential to transform healthcare delivery for good.
But all new innovations face complex healthtech compliance requirements. This delays them from reaching those who need them most.
Our co-founder Michael Bell had 25 years of healthtech experience when he joined NHS X. During COVID, he assessed new healthtech against the NHS DAQ (the forerunner to DTAC).
He saw innovators struggle with compliance first-hand and figured there was a better way to streamline compliance processes.
He teamed up with Roxana Valea, a process improvement & technology consulting pro, to make affordable and well-targeted healthtech a reality.
Together, they built Acorn Compliance.
We help healthtech innovation make a difference.
Healthtech compliance can be a huge competitive advantage for innovators— and we’re here to make it simple, accessible, and faster than ever before.
More life-saving healthtech in the market faster. Without the compliance drag-out.
We want innovators to focus on breakthroughs, not bureaucracy. That’s why your innovation + our expertise = maximum patient impact.
Meet the Team
After a career of 35 years in Global Technology including 10 years as a Senior Director with Apple, Brendan is now passionate about mentoring and investing in technology startups.
With over 5 years of experience in customer success and healthtech compliance, Sofie has extensive knowledge of various frameworks, including NHS DTAC and WCAG.
Quality Assurance specialist with 20+ years experience in test engineering, DevOps, exploratory testing, test management and accessibility standards.
Marketing and fundraising specialist with 5+ years of experience helping startups with marketing and social media initiatives.
With 10+ years of experience in the medical device industry, Sarah specialises in software as a medical device regulation, including AI/ML.
With 13+ years in Global Copyright and IP, Michael is an ISO 27001 Certified Compliance Consultant and an expert in Cyber Security.
A keen medical scientist with a passion for technology, Leon loves working with new projects pushing the boundaries of medicine.
ISO27001 Certified Compliance Analyst with a background in IP rights, Ethan supports companies in achieving critical security certifications.
A clinical safety officer with 8 years experience as a clinical pharmacist. Passionate about optimising digital safety & cybersecurity for patients.
Partners
The DTAC Challenge: Our Inspiration
We’ve been here since day 1 of The NHS Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC). DTAC is a vital compliance framework that brings together key strands of existing compliance. It is the minimum baseline standard that all healthtech innovators must conform to in order to pilot their innovations with, or sell to the NHS. DTAC is not a once and done exercise either, and innovators must continuously reassess and uplift their compliance as their products and organisation evolve.
Before creating the DTAC Squirrel™, we diligently collected feedback from our existing clients, conducting user research with 100s of healthtechs to understand their biggest DTAC challenges, and what ideas may help address them.
Healthtechs needed a way to weave compliance into the fabric of their product development lifecycle from the start.
The Acorn Solution: Building the DTAC Squirrel™
Our founders knew process automation and simplification could drive a new breed of compliance service, greatly reduce the time to market for innovators, and help them navigate this path with confidence.
So we used all our expertise and years of user research to build a revolutionary product: DTAC Squirrel™.
This friendly, AI-powered coach does the heavy lifting for you. It creates your DTAC compliance documents, guides you through the entire DTAC journey, and is then backed by our compliance experts who will assure and warranty your evidence to ensure your innovation reaches the NHS quickly and safely.
Compliance shouldn't be a burden.
Our approach is to make it simple and sustainable.
We go beyond basic compliance. Instead of treating your regulatory needs as a one-time checklist, we help you build a culture of compliance within your organisation.
Here's how:
Telling you it’s not a mystery
We start by demystifying and simplifying DTAC for you. Compliance can be made clear and accessible. That’s why we’re laser-focused on automating all parts of the process that are possible to cut down time and costs for you.
Introducing you to DTAC Squirrel™, your friendly AI-Powered guide
We’ve introduced the DTAC Squirrel™ to a lot of healthtech innovators. They tell us many reasons they love it, the best being how it’s a cute little compliance partner who instantly creates gold standard evidence that would have taken you months of work.
Providing you round-the-clock expert support
With DTAC Squirrel™ you've got the industry's leading compliance professionals at your fingertips! They'll help you with personalised advice and ensure your compliance evidence meets all requirements. We assure all of your DTAC evidence and guarnatee that your DTAC evidence file will be approved by the NHS.
Guiding you with holistic compliance
We cover all aspects of all DTAC domains: Clinical Safety, Data Protection, Technical Security, Interoperability, Usability & Accessibility. The DTAC Squirrel™ will make sure none of your compliance worries need last moment Google searches, and your products remain procurable as they evolve.
We believe in building trust and long-term partnerships.
That’s why we’ve built all our services and platforms on grounded values.
What are we here to build?
A healthier future for all, powered by frictionless healthtech innovation.
We dream of a world where groundbreaking healthtech innovations are readily available to everyone. We see ourselves as partners in this journey, empowering you to make a significant impact on the healthcare landscape.
Looking Forward:
We aspire to be the go-to resource for DTAC compliance in the world, and will soon be expanding Squirrel's capabilities to encompass other international regulations including HIPAA and MDR.
Our ultimate goal is to demystify compliance and regulation to empower the next generation of healthtech innovation, ultimately improving healthcare for all.
We can help your healthtech make an impact faster too!
Don't let compliance stall your game, let us guide you through the DTAC without drowning you in paperwork.
Contact us today to explore how Acorn Compliance and the DTAC Squirrel™ can accelerate your path to success.
