WIREDGOV

Health and Social Services Minister Mark Drakeford has announced £250,000 will be invested in telehealth technology so more patients can be seen by specialists without the need to travel long distances.

Plans to improve telehealth services are being led by the Mid Wales Healthcare Collaborative, which is creating a new approach to delivering health and social care in this largely rural and sparsely populated area.    

The investment will increase the number of health services using the technology, connecting patients with specialists in clinics scores of miles away.

Professor Drakeford said:

“Telehealth already means orthopaedic specialists in Abergavenny can look at X-rays from Brecon to avoid unnecessary travel for patients.  This investment will take stock of all practices which use telehealth across NHS Wales and look at how, within the Mid Wales Healthcare Collaborative region, we can scale these projects up to benefit more patients.  

“I visited a tele-dermatology service at Bronglais Hospital, in Aberystwyth, last November which was sending images and clinical details to specialists in Glangwili Hospital, in Carmarthen, saving patients long journeys to access specialist help. This funding will increase the number of people who can benefit from this kind of technology, ensuring they receive care closer to home.

“Technology can help us to address some of the challenges in providing healthcare in Mid Wales. This funding will be used to look at how some of the best examples of telehealth can be used to benefit people in Mid Wales.”

The £250,000 is part of the larger £10m efficiency through technology fund which the Minister announced earlier this year and is designed to bring new, more efficient ways of working to NHS Wales.

The Mid Wales Healthcare Collaborative has brought together people who have a stake in the future of services in the region. Health and social care professionals and the people of Mid Wales are working to create a new approach to delivering health and social care to meet the specific needs of rural communities.