More medics will take to video
THERE’S going to be a rapid expansion of video consultation services into secondary and community care in Wales.
Following the roll-out of digital appointments for GP surgeries across Wales, a further £2.8m has been invested to extend the scheme to all of secondary and community care.
This includes community nurses, community mental health teams, health visitors and community midwives.
Secondary care includes outpatients and diabetes clinics.
This system will enable key services to maintain a visual link with patients. This is especially important in some services delivered in the community, including mental health services.
The expansion of the service will allow people to maintain key medical appointments, while maintaining social separation.
Offering video consultation will help reduce the spread of the infection of Covid-19, with less people attending hospitals or clinics, reducing the risk of exposure to both patients and clinicians.
It will also allow patients in self-isolation to maintain contact with medical professionals.
The Health Minister Vaughan Gething has also announced £800,000 of funding to supply carers, care homes and hospices with digital devices to allow them to access medical video consultation services including GP appointments and helping them to contact loved ones during the current lockdown.
The additional funding is being invested to support the existing Digital Communities Wales: Digital Confidence, Health and Well-being Programme, which provides devices, training and support to public bodies and third sector organisations working with the most vulnerable people in Wales who are not already online.
The additional funding will allow the programme, delivered by the Wales Co-operative Centre, to distribute in the region of 1,000 digital devices to care homes and wards
Another benefit to the new devices is that people will be able to keep in touch with family and friends.
This will help to reduce loneliness and isolation and provide a vital boost to families across Wales.
FIRST MINISTER’S MESSAGE – PAGE 11