Following its launch in September last year, the International Centre for Excellence in Telecare (ICE-T) – a special interest group of the South East Health Technology Alliance (SEHTA) - is to unveil major UK and US funding opportunities aimed at companies involved in the development of telecare products. 

The move comes as the number of UK individuals with chronic illnesses or long-term health conditions reaches more than 17.5 million, with hundreds of thousands more potentially undiagnosed.

 

The money will be available for specific projects, including three £50,000 grants for research projects exploring the development and use of telecare in residential care homes. SEHTA is also sponsoring a University of Oxford industrial training doctorate programme available to three PhD studentships at £15,000 each.

 

Dr David Parry, chief executive of SEHTA, said: “Putting the harsh facts of the state of the nation’s health to one side, the problem we have is that traditional health and social care services are neither economically sustainable nor meeting increased demand for patient support on such a wide scale.

“Patient care is delivered through several disparate, autonomous public and private bodies, each with their own separate aims, independent budgets and differing responsibilities. It is a recipe for confusion and inefficiencies, potentially leading to a postcode lottery of service provision.

 

“The statutory sector does not have the resources to deliver on this enormous agenda. To reduce the demand on existing services, there is a pressing need to continue with the development of prescribed telecare while starting the development of elective telecare.

 

“The technology to deliver comprehensive elective telecare services is largely available and many of the components have been trialled individually in pilot telecare projects. The next step is to provide them on a single platform and with a user interface that is simple and intuitive to operate.”

 

“The statutory sector does not have the resources to deliver on this enormous agenda. To reduce the demand on existing services, there is a pressing need to continue with the development of prescribed telecare while starting the development of elective telecare”

As well as the larger grants, other funds available include: 10 innovation vouchers worth £4,000 each to be spent in regional universities and the launch of 15 EU innovation vouchers worth €6,000 each to be spend in European partner universities.

 

The initiative comes at a time when the UK population is ageing and the number of working and earning adults is decreasing significantly. Through the use of telecare products, it is hoped patients will be able to better manage their own conditions at home and be able to report back to GPs and specialists without having to attend regular hospital or clinic appointments.

 

SEHTA will officially launch its first call for project proposals at the Access SEHTA and ICE-T Millions event on Tuesday next week at Burford Bridge Hotel in Boxhill, Dorking, Surrey. For more details, click on the links below