O2 Health looks to centres of excellence

O2 Health has teamed up with NHS Western Isles, Berkshire East Community Health Services and NHS Rotherham to develop and trial a series of products to launch to the wider NHS.

The company has named the organisations ‘Centres of Excellence’ and hopes they will provide it with the health expertise it needs to shape new systems being developed and piloted for a range of care settings.

Earlier this year, O2 announced that NHS East Berkshire is trialing technology to allow patients to carry out rehabilitation exercises at home; without needing to see a physiotherapist.

The technology allows patients to carry out pre-determined rehabilitation programmes. These are shown on a TV screen and the patient’s progress is monitored remotely via movement sensors. The data is fed back to a physiotherapist for ongoing evaluation.

In addition, the company is working with NHS Western Isles, which is in the early days of piloting technology that will allow doctors to carry out consultations with their patients via video link.

NHS Western Isles medical director, Dr Jim Ward, said: “We are committed to delivering high quality healthcare to people living in a remote island setting.

"Improved organisation of care, supported by technology and combined with training for our teams, will result in a service delivered more efficiently and effectively, with more time for patient care.”

O2 Health was formed this summer and says that it will invest significantly in mobile technology for the health service.

It plans to channel resources through its Centres of Excellence partners in the form of managed pilots, technical expertise and forums to encourage shared learning.

Keith Nurcombe, head of O2 Health said: “NHS Western Isles, Berkshire East Community Health Services and NHS Rotherham have all shown a real appetite to embrace innovation to drive better patient experiences.

“The Centre of Excellence programme is an industry first – it gives us a great opportunity to learn directly from clinical teams. We plan to expand the programme over the next few years to other like-minded health organisations.”

Link: O2 Health