health innovations unveiled at conference
Pioneering technology to save patients time
Published:
Clocking up hundreds of miles in round trips to hospital in Inverness could soon become a thing of the past, thanks to pioneering technology that would enable patients to be treated closer to home.
Innovations that could make healthcare more accessible to people living in remote parts of the Highlands were unveiled yesterday on the first day of an international health conference in Inverness.
Among the technological breakthroughs that were demonstrated at the Centre for Rural Health were a remote dialysis unit and a remote speech therapy service.
Such services could be offered at a local GP surgery, taking away the need for patients to have to travel to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
The conference, which continues today, was also an opportunity to showcase Scottish innovations that could be used in similarly remote areas in Finland, Greenland, Norway and Sweden.
Overseas visitors were able to see kit that is already being used by NHS Highland, such as a system which allows GP practices in rural areas to record ECGs, blood pressure and lung function using a single computer unit.
Results can then be transmitted to Raigmore Hospital to obtain immediate advice from consultants.
The technology, which has been developed by Inverness-based DanMedical, has been successfully piloted in Inverness and Skye and is now attracting interest from Finland.
David Heaney, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Rural Health, said the countries involved in the conference were well-placed to share initiatives because they each faced the same problem of delivering services in sparsely-populated areas.
He said: “It is difficult for people living in remote areas to access services and often they have to travel long distances. For the bulk of patients in the Highlands, that means a trip to Inverness.
“The aim of the conference is to see if we can match innovators with partners in other countries to transplant successful innovation across northern Europe.”
Mr Heaney said remote speech therapy could be operated from a local GP practice via a live link to a therapist at Raigmore.
Representatives from the NHS were invited to run the rule over the innovations to see if they would be viable for use in the Highlands, with one new service expected to be introduced this year.
