We are World’s 1st and UK’s only Adult Socialcare Marketplace and This is Our Story
Five decades of family legacy in the service of humanity
Our story begins in 1963 when a little known nurse from a suburban town in the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan decided to take the ultimate leap of faith and travel to UK ! She was my sister and her name was Roshan Akhtar Bhatti, cutely called Sister Bhatti by her colleagues and nicknamed lovingly by her family - Apa Roshan.
Apa Roshan was born in India. Her family migrated to Pakistan during partition of 1947 when she was just 5 years old. Her father died in her early childhood. Raised by a single mom & facing challenges Apa learnt to become a person of high resilience. Her choice of nursing career took shape partly to support her mother, and partly by her desire to live a life of purpose turning her resilience into compassion to serve others.
Apa Roshan has charted a track not trodden by many, and almost never heard of by a Pakistani female born in a conventionally thinking family of limited means and especially not back 50 years ago. Many have since followed her path, pushing boundaries of what’s possible, and living a life of purpose. Apa Roshan passed away quietly in her own home being looked after by family carers. She had no children who could take her mission forward but, in many Divinely Designed ways, the light of compassion, love, care and service of humanity that Akhtar Bhatti kindled has become an example that continues to shape the lives of many and to this day remains an inspiration many many generations after her. One such inspirational story is of my sister, Dr Nabeela Nisar.
Following in the foot steps of Apa Roshan
Currently working in NHS as a Consultant in Stroke Medicine, Dr Nabeela Nisar, arrived in the UK back in 2004. Inspired by the legacy of Akhtar Bhatti, Dr Nabeela too chose to live a life of giving. She completed her high school degree from Kinnaird College Lahore and being a super bright student got admission at King Edwards Medical College in 1991. After graduating in 1998, Dr Nabeela continued her medical practice for a while, pursued higher education, and following in the footsteps of Apa Roshan, created herself the opportunity to move to the UK. Young, recently married and ambitious she began her medical career working in junior roles, contributing to the society, and building on the family values that had inspired not just her but many others. Working through the pandemic, Dr Nabeela was recognized for her care and services & hard work by NHS despite having lost her husband and taking full responsibility of raising her two children as a single mom. Compassion & love are what keeps us together !
Why I created Care Marketplace
When the pandemic hit us the reality of life & its fickle nature became all too obvious. I was in a corporate job in London, far away from health & social care, but the impact of pandemic especially close to my home made me realize just how much we depend on good health care, and how much NHS service depends on social care to sustain itself. My neighbor at that time was caring for his wife going through the struggles of Dementia. We often discussed how the systems are not working together between NHS and care and how difficult it is when you are caring for someone to have easy access to social care to allow you to be close to your loved ones at home. It was clear that individuals were not being empowered, and in some cases, even let down by the system and that’s the problem I took on. I started my own research into social care system, registered at Imperial College to learn digital transformation at scale, and as an outcome of more than three years of work I brought Care Marketplace to life. A one stop solution that empowers everyone to access care across all providers without bias and while being 100% transparent on price. For me, it has been a desire to help the vulnerable in society but more so a deep passion to live a life of purpose, compassion & love - something I have imbibed from the many years I spent in close company of my sister Apa Roshan. She has left the world but her legacy continues, and my hope and ambition, through Care Marketplace, is to create an Ever Living Legacy of Apa Roshan that will continue to grow beyond decades, to centuries, and beyond countries, to continents and to the whole world, transcending all boundaries in service of humanity.
Hi, I am Waqar and I am the founder of Care Marketplace - a service platform that enables care seekers / users to scour the market, understand the capabilities of different providers, determine the model of contract best suited to their needs and negotiate prices to secure person centered care for themselves or their loved ones in the comfort of their own homes or in a care home of their choice.
Our Ethos
Choice -Empowerment - Comfort - Trust - Compassion
