By: A.C.
A Conference has recently taken place in Inverness, regarding the development of telemedicine.
This Conference which has the rather unwieldy name of Implementing Transnational Telemedicine Solutions project (ITTS) saw clinicians, patients and healthcare professionals from across Europe gathering in Inverness.
Scotland, in particular Aberdeen University along with The University of the Highlands and Islands, are at the forefront of developing and implementing new technology for rural, remote and isolated places.
Delegates attended from across Northern Europe. There is no doubt that this technology will be applied to all the rural and remote areas of Scotland at some point.
The various projects are listed in the previous articles about the Scottish centre for Telehealth and Telemedicine.
With the pressures on the NHS’s funding, the shutting down of small cottage hospitals and the emergence of Day Hospitals, it is more than likely that this technology will be used more and more in places that are not all that far away from a major hospital.
David Heaney, ITTS Project Director said:“This conference is the culmination of the project’s endeavours and achievements and will bring together a diverse audience of clinicians, patients, health service planners, technologists, academics and civil servants.
We believe that the ITTS project has made a real difference to the delivery of healthcare to people living in the Northern Periphery.
You can read more of what the conference convener, he had to say here.
Through developing Video consultation links, smartphone apps and other home-based technologies new services have already been introduced in various places around Northern Europe. Some of the problems which these emerging techniques are helping combat are:
- Renal (kidney) problems
- Emergency access to mental health services
- Monitoring physical activity levels
- Diabetes
- Speech therapy
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Medical Emergencies
- Exercise Classes for Rehabilitation
- Multimorbidity (patients with multiple issues effecting them at the same time)
This technology is here to stay and will only expand from here. It looks like many of us will come across these solutions to our care at some point in our lives. Find out more about telehealth’s applications here.