Dotcom doctors become a virtual reality
IMAGINE BEING ABLE to visit the doctor's surgery without even having to leave your chair. Virtual healthcare like this no longer seems to be so far away following the launch of a project by the University of Oxford, aimed at pregnant women.
This virtual health service will allow women to monitor the health of their unborn child at home. "This is an exciting opportunity to bring education to the place where it is most needed - the home - and to make it relevant to each woman by basing the education on her own health data," said Jonathan Darby, Director of Technology-Assisted Lifelong Learning at the Department for Continuing Education.
Aimed at young mothers, the scheme will provide both pre-natal and post-natal health education and training over the Internet. The mum-to-be will be able to send information about her health and that of her unborn child, such as blood pressure and heart rate, down the telephone line where it can be monitored by a professional healthcare team. The mothers involved will also be able to participate in online discussions with healthcare professionals, other pregnant women and people who have experienced similar problems. Rachel Griffin, OUSU Vice-President for Women, was enthusiastic about the trials. "Any measures to widen access to healthcare is a positive step and it is certainly a good thing for women to use Information Technology more and more, especially if it is beneficial to their health." She continued, "There is however, no substitute for proper healthcare. Any kind of telephone or on-line medical services should not be relied on in isolation but should be a part of comprehensive healthcare."
Not everyone was so enthusiastic. Ishbel Kargar, the Administration Secretary of the Association of Radical Midwives was appalled by the prospect. "If anyone needs to know a woman's blood pressure, it is a midwife and midwives should certainly be involved," she said. She added: "It's very important that a woman receives input from her midwife."
The BT Higher Education Awards recently awarded £10,000 to the project's developers, the Department of Continuing Education and the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The awards are given to schemes that use new technologies to promote access to learning.
Such a health strategy could be the forerunner to a more widespread application of virtual healthcare - Britain's first virtual hospital has recently been given the go-ahead, possibly providing the model for the NHS hospital of the future. Consultants will be able to carry out virtual rounds from anywhere in the country, with video links to patients. Computers and equipment, including devices to measure blood pressure, pulse and temperature, will be provided to suit the needs of the patients. These will be linked up through the telephone line to computers that will relay information to the patient's specialist. The trial is expected to dramatically reduce the number of people needing hospital beds. 250 patients are expected to be receiving this treatment at home within two years.
27th Apr 2000