The Birmingham firm behind the TV series Embarrassing Bodies is launching a ground-breaking digital project with the NHS to allow people to access health services online.

Maverick Television is leading a consortium to deliver a contract for the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority reported to be worth £15 million over five years for the company.

The new service will connect people living in the region to frontline staff in the NHS as well as providing online health resources and information using video, blogs and interactive tools.

Maverick has been widely acclaimed for its Embarrassing Bodies series and its accompanying digital content, which earned the firm a BAFTA for its work on Embarrassing Bodies Online.

A Maverick Television spokeswoman said: “Maverick Television is thrilled to be working with the NHS in the West Midlands to prototype an innovative digital health service that will support NHS staff and the public throughout the region. Maverick has built a reputation for producing mainstream health and well being TV and new media, including the popular series Embarrassing Bodies and How To Look Good Naked.

“It has led a consortium of Digital Public, Warwick University, NHSDirect, Capable and Brightcove to produce a fully integrated and highly qualified health and digital team, which will deliver a unique information service.”

A spokeswoman for NHS West Midlands said the service was an innovative step which would help the NHS reach out to the public in a new way.

She said: “We are very pleased to be working with Maverick TV and their partners to develop a range of local digital health services to provide easy access to trusted information and tools that individuals need to manage their own health, and support frontline staff in delivering high quality, innovative healthcare services.

“It will connect staff and people within the region to the best available online resources, and to each other. It will also ensure that best practice within the NHS is disseminated for the benefit of both the citizens we serve and the staff that work within it.

“NHS West Midlands and the consortia are very excited about working on such an innovative service which will allow us to engage in new ways with the public and NHS staff and help them to find the information they need about their local NHS.”

The new contract comes as Embarrassing Bodies returns to Channel 4 for a new series in which Maverick is once again pushing digital boundaries with the production of Embarrassing Bodies Live, a live web show which will be broadcast immediately after the second episode of the new series at 10pm on February 10.

The new contract comes less than two weeks after Maverick announced it had been commissioned to produce a new show for BBC Two which will see Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis delve behind the scenes of the retail industry.

The company will be making The Buying Game, which goes behind closed doors at some of the biggest names in UK retail to expose the secret world of buying.