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Go online and ask for a diagnosis?
PATIENTS could be asked to consult their doctors over the internet as part of a 21st-century vision for healthcare in Westminster.
Telemedicine is being given serious consideration by Westminster Primary Care Trust (PCT).
The PCT hopes to free-up waiting lists in practices by creating a system where patients store images of their ailments online, and await an email video response.
A report to the PCT reads: “Telemedicine enables distance consultation between patient, GP and specialist. Specially equipped rooms and significant investment in information systems and technology will be required.”
The proposals are part of a major efficiency drive launched by the PCT following publication of an estates report last month.
It recommends employing staff who can work from home, asking current staff to “hot desk” (sharing computers and work stations) and supplying staff who don’t need computers with “BlackBerry” devices.
The report, published last month, states: “Senior managers, when considering recruiting staff, will not only consider job descriptions, wage costs and on-costs but also how and where this member of staff will work and the costs associated with this. Thus more staff will in the future work from home and/or in a ‘hot desking’ environment.”
The trust is desperately searching for space so that it can comply with health reforms proposed by health minister Lord Darzi.
The PCT commissioned the American healthcare supplier UnitedHealth earlier this year to find out whether the scheme could be accommodated in PCT buildings. The UnitedHealth report said the Lisson Grove Health Centre was the only possible space for a polyclinic in Westminster, but the PCT has doubts about whether local GPs would agree to move in. |
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