If you're an NHS GP practice that is using eConsult, now might be the time to start to consider Hero Health as your alternative platform
eConsult has been a stalwart of the NHS online consultation landscape for years. Offering symptom-specific questionnaires and GP triage, it essentially defined the category. Patients fill out detailed forms describing their condition, are red-flagged if necessary, and their responses are then reviewed by GPs, providing a streamlined way to handle non-urgent cases.
But while eConsult was early to market, it hasn't necessarily kept up with the evolution - many practices report frustrations with long questionnaires and rigid workflows. In addition, whilst tools like Accurx have expanded their reach to offer messaging, appointment booking AND triage, eConsult has stayed firmly as an 'online consultation' only solution.
Most recently it became public that the eConsult business was available for purchase, before they were ultimately acquired by Huma, also owners of iPlato. The future looks uncertain for eConsult; the number of practices using the product has fallen from nearly 3,000 to just over 1,200 in the past 24 months, and so you may be considering alternatives.
Enter Hero Health, the upstart solution built to deliver flexibility, configurability, and cost savings. Hero’s Care Navigation offers not just online triage, but an integrated booking system, customizable workflows, and seamless cross-organizational functionality. If eConsult paved the way for digital access, Hero Health is ready to reimagine it.
So let’s break it down in this review: Hero Health vs. eConsult—who wins?
Both platforms are rooted in the same goal: helping patients access care efficiently and freeing up GPs to focus on the cases that really need their attention. They share a few common features:
In short, they’re both built for digital-first practices—but the similarities end there.
Here’s where things get interesting. While eConsult sticks to its questionnaire-heavy approach, that requires patients to answer a long series of questions designed to identify red-flags, Hero's triage opens up new possibilities for practices to streamline care, customize workflows, and actually reduce admin workload (instead of creating more of it). Here's how:
eConsult: A one-size-fits-all solution. Patients fill out structured, symptom-specific forms that don’t allow much flexibility. This can frustrate both patients, who feel constrained, and GPs, who might end up with too much irrelevant detail or not enough context. It also means that practices can't configure the system for their own local services or specific needs.
Hero Health: Configurable Care Navigation. Practices can customize triage forms, include local services, and design care pathways that reflect how they actually work. Hero adapts to your needs, not the other way around. Practices can tailor the online consultation forms that patients complete, and direct patients to relevant pathways.
eConsult: No integrated booking. Patients are funnelled into an inbox, leaving staff to chase them for appointments later.
Hero Health: Integrated booking, end-to-end. Patients can book their own appointments straight from the triage flow (if the practice deems this appropriate in its configuration of Hero), or once a submission has been made, staff can book for patients without even opening EMIS or SystmOne. Hero also supports cross-organizational booking, so patients can be directed to PCN hubs without any extra hassle.
eConsult: Handles basic messaging from clinician or practice back to patients. No configurable questionnaires, or attachments from the record.
Hero Health: Offers integrated batch messaging within the Hero browser platform, and then rich individual messaging including self-booking links, questionnaires, attachments and one-time replies.
eConsult: Long, rigid questionnaires are a chore for many patients. They’re fine for some clinical scenarios but overkill for general inquiries, creating unnecessary friction.
Hero Health: Simplified triage that lets patients submit information in their own words or complete brief custom forms. For practices that want to reduce friction even further, Hero also offers batch messaging with self-booking links—patients get an invite, book an appointment, done.
eConsult: Pricing varies, but many practices report that eConsult is more expensive than alternatives without delivering additional value.
Hero Health: All-in pricing at 45p per patient per year, covering triage, booking, messaging, and more. No surprises, no hidden fees, and significantly cheaper than eConsult plus the cost of a separate messaging system for practices trying to stretch their budgets.
Hero Health doesn’t just aim to replace eConsult—it’s designed to solve the problems eConsult has created over the years.
eConsult’s rigid workflows mean admin teams spend hours processing inbound queries and chasing patients for appointments. Hero’s configurable Care Navigation ensures that queries are directed to the right service before they even hit your inbox. Patients can book themselves in, reducing your admin workload by 30%.
With Hero’s affordable 45p per patient pricing, you’ll pay less than you would for eConsult plus a messaging tool such as Accurx. Integrated booking, configurable triage, batch messaging—it’s all included with Hero.
If you’re still clinging to eConsult, and managed to read this far, it might be time to re-evaluate. Hero Health offers everything eConsult does, plus more—better configurability, integrated booking, and a far superior patient experience.
So, if you’re ready to give your patients and staff a break from rigid questionnaires and endless admin, the answer is simple: Hero Health wins.
Want to see how Hero Health can transform your practice? Hit the Get Started button at the top right—we’ll take care of the rest.
