£9.5m investment in new technology and telehealth to improve patient care
25 Apr 2014 04:00 PM
Health boards across Wales will benefit from a
share of £9.5m to invest in new technology and telehealth to improve
patient care, Health Minister Mark Drakeford has
announced
Health boards made applications to the Welsh
Government’s Health Technologies and Telehealth Fund, with the money
being allocated in four key areas:
- Connecting primary care (£2.33m) – these
projects support e-referrals, discharge and data sharing, covering pharmacy,
dentistry and optometry.
- Hub
and spoke models (£0.53m) – these projects will enable pre and
post-operative care to be delivered without patients needing to visit a
hospital in areas such as lymphoedema care.
- Telemedicine (£2.87m) – Investment in remote
devices and connectivity to link clinicians and patients
together.
- Enabling infrastructure (£3.92m) – these
projects will provide core infrastructure on a once-for-Wales
basis.
The
NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS) in partnership with the Wales Eye Health
Care Steering Group has been awarded £1m, which will fund two projects -
the Open Eyes initiative and the technology refresh for optometry practices and
connectivity to NHS Wales Network.
Health Minister Mark Drakeford visited the School of
Optometry & Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, to see the OpenEyes system
in action in the Eye Clinic.
Speaking at the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences,
Mark Drakeford said:
“Thousands of patients across Wales have benefited
from the Welsh Government’s Health Technologies Fund since its launch in
2013.
“Technology plays a key role in achieving the best
outcomes for patients and reduces the need for patients to have to travel to
hospital for their care.
“This new round of £9.5m of funding will
cover four key areas and shows the Welsh Government’s ongoing commitment
to improving health and delivering first class health services in
Wales.”
The
Health Technology Fund is a three-year funding package of £25m which was
launched in January 2013. From the original funding package £5m was
earmarked for primary care with an additional £4.5m for telehealth
identified in the budget, leading to the creation of the one-year, £9.5m
Health Technology and Telehealth Fund.
Links
Health
and social care