SPATTRO is transforming how specialist consultations begin, ensuring patients arrive prepared and consultants receive structured, accurate information before appointments even start. Founded in Edinburgh in 2020 by orthopaedic surgeon Hisham Shalaby, the company emerged from years of witnessing communication breakdowns between patients and clinicians, often leading to delayed treatment, inefficiencies, and avoidable risk.
Drawing on more than two decades of clinical experience across the UK and internationally, Hisham began building SPATTRO to solve a fundamental issue: specialist care is only as effective as the information it starts with. What began as exploration quickly became a focused mission to improve clinical triage and consultation quality.
As SPATTRO evolved from idea to working platform, participation in Techscaler, delivered by CodeBase on behalf of the Scottish Government, provided access to mentoring, networks, and structured founder support that helped sharpen both business model and execution.
This case study follows SPATTRO’s journey from personal motivation to globally recognised healthtech innovation.
SPATTRO’s roots lie in personal loss and professional frustration. Following his mother’s battle with cancer, Hisham witnessed how miscommunication and rushed consultations could lead to missed opportunities in care. Despite medical expertise within his own family, navigating complex healthcare systems remained difficult.
He began speaking with patients and colleagues, uncovering a recurring issue: people arrived unprepared, clinicians lacked structured information, and consultations became inefficient for both sides.
SPATTRO was built to bridge that gap, creating structured, digital intake processes that guide patients and equip consultants with relevant, organised data before appointments begin, ultimately improving clinical outcomes and patient experience.
Before joining Techscaler, SPATTRO had a clear mission but lacked commercial clarity and operational structure. Like many early founders, Hisham navigated years of experimentation, learning business fundamentals while simultaneously developing a complex medical platform.
The challenge was not simply building technology, but understanding how to shape it into a viable business within healthcare systems known for slow adoption and procurement complexity. Funding remained limited, forcing careful choices and slower development.
Techscaler provided access to mentors and experienced operators who helped refine priorities, correct missteps, and transform scattered progress into focused execution.
Joining Techscaler marked a turning point in SPATTRO’s development. For Hisham, mentoring sessions became the most valuable aspect of the programme, offering clarity at moments when decisions felt overwhelming.
Rather than navigating problems alone, he gained access to experienced mentors who simplified complex challenges and helped redirect effort towards actions that produced real progress. This saved time, reduced costly mistakes, and opened doors to relevant networks across healthcare, technology, and business.
Through Techscaler, SPATTRO shifted from experimentation toward structured growth, enabling clearer commercial strategy and more confident decision-making as the company prepared for expansion.
Beyond mentoring, Techscaler helped SPATTRO build the operational structure needed for scale. A major learning was adopting fractional expertise rather than hiring prematurely. Through programme connections, Hisham began working with experienced fractional CTOs, developers, marketing specialists, and compliance advisors.
This allowed SPATTRO to access senior expertise without unsustainable salary commitments, dramatically improving execution quality across technology, data privacy, and commercial strategy.
As the team matured, SPATTRO moved from solo founder effort to coordinated weekly operations with dedicated contributors across product, sales, and development. This shift transformed the company’s momentum.
By the time SPATTRO entered hospital trials across the UK and Middle East, the foundations for scalable growth were finally in place.
Following Techscaler participation, SPATTRO entered its strongest period of progress. The platform moved beyond MVP into active clinical trials across the UK, Egypt, and the Middle East, supporting consultants and hospitals in improving consultation efficiency and patient preparation.
A defining milestone came in September 2025 when SPATTRO won the Innovation Fair at the SICOT World Orthopaedic Congress in Madrid, standing out among global competitors for its scalable approach to improving patient-consultant communication.
This international recognition accelerated conversations with hospitals and consultants while strengthening SPATTRO’s credibility across markets. With expansion teams forming internationally and UK sales capability planned next, SPATTRO now moves toward larger-scale adoption, seeking investment to match growing demand.
The next phase focuses on expanding consultant networks and positioning SPATTRO as core infrastructure within specialist healthcare delivery worldwide.
For Hisham, Techscaler’s impact extended beyond programming support. It provided access to experienced mentors, practical frameworks, and founder communities that helped transform SPATTRO from an idea into an operational business ready for international scale.
For ecosystem builders and founders alike, SPATTRO’s story demonstrates how tailored, founder-led support enables professionals from outside tech to successfully build impactful startups.
Follow SPATTRO’s journey as the company expands specialist healthcare access globally through structured, technology-enabled consultations.
.svg)
