Wales

Telehealth is bringing care 'closer to home'

Alison Wallis has a look at what’s happening in Wales and describes the telehealth project there.

Telehealth is one of the many projects being undertaken by Informing Healthcare , a Welsh Assembly Government programme set up to improve health services in Wales by introducing new ways of accessing, using and storing information.

The project-based strategy aims to corporately and collectively modernise health services in Wales over the next 10 years.

According to Informing Healthcare, telehealth is the delivery of health related services and information via media such as telecommunications or remotely-operated robotic technology.

The use of telehealth could overcome geographic restrictions and benefit health in Wales by enabling patients to receive care closer to home and allow clinicians to spend more of their time treating patients and less time travelling.

Informing Healthcare describes three basic forms of telehealth technology:

  • store and forward telehealth – where information is captured and stored, then sent to a specialist at another location
  • real time telehealth – a live link between clinicians that allows real-time interaction to take place. This often involves videoconferencing, either using dedicated equipment or, increasingly, webcams and personal computers.
  • remote monitoring – where sensors can be used to capture and transmit data. This technology may be used in many situations – for example, for home-based dialysis or heart monitoring – and may allow patients to be treated at home instead of at the hospital.

Telehealth technology being trialled in Wales includes videoconferencing in the South West Wales Cancer Network, where specialist staff working at different hospitals are able to “meet” to discuss cases.

The technology is also being tested in other clinical situations in Wales, including dermatology and even the remote assessment of a patient’s seating position to determine changes needed to a wheelchair.

For information, see:

Glossary

Telecare is sometimes also called assistive technology. It includes access to information, physiological monitoring, and management of the environment – ideally an integrated system which supports input from a wide range of stakeholders and offers both proactive (monitoring) capability and reactive support for identified needs.