Medcart

In the early days of the viral pandemic, Medcart founder Phil Leahy gained first-hand experience of the pressures being placed on healthcare workers. Comforting his mother in a hospital ward, he was struck by the long and intense hours being worked and how COVID would increase this challenge even further.

The situation sparked the idea to create Frontliners. As a social enterprise, Frontliners was designed to provide healthcare kits to frontline staff across Australia. Working with staff at his events company, which had been shuttered by the pandemic, Leahy developed a range of kits containing everything from multivitamins and personal items to caffeinated drinks and snack bars. Within two months, more than 30,000 healthcare workers had registered with Frontliners and were receiving the kits.

As the pandemic deepened, Leahy identified the PPE challenge faced by hospitals and staff. He realised there was an opportunity to streamline the way in which the supplies were sourced and delivered.We realised an online portal could be developed that brought together PPE suppliers and customers,” says Leahy. “The result was Medcart and we had it up and running in just one month.”

• Finding sufficient PPE to meet demand was becoming an increasing challenge for many healthcare providers
• There was no mechanism in place to assist staff locate manufacturers and place PPE orders
• Manufacturers also faced the challenge of finding new customers and informing them of their range of offerings
• Hospitals also needed to be confident that the supplies they were sourcing and using met the quality requirements for use in a highly infectious environment
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