NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit and the Satellite Applications Catapult have agreed a partnership to further embed the potential of satellite technology within digital healthcare transformation.
The Satellite Applications Catapult is an independent innovation and technology company created by Innovate UK to drive economic performance through the exploitation of space infrastructure and relevant satellite applications.
NHS Arden and GEM CSU and the Satellite Applications Catapult have worked on a series of projects over the past 18 months. They have used satellite technology in the management of long term conditions, including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and diabetes, as well as improving ambulance connectivity.
In Scotland, the partnership has been part of an innovative trial to combine satellite connectivity with ingestible endoscopy technology, to help improve early diagnosis, reduce the burden on local hospitals, while reducing cost and improving patient convenience. The success of this project has led to a roll out of the solution across Scotland.
These projects have identified the potential of satellite technology to help shift care into the community, address critical workforce challenges, encourage patient self-management and improve preventative care.
The partnership means the organisations will continue with a series of further projects to harness satellite connectivity, monitoring and data to develop sustainable health and care solutions. The projects will focus on combining satellite intelligence with complementary technologies to respond directly to patient needs and support social prescribing and community interventions.
Wendy Lane, Consultancy Services Director at Arden & GEM “We look forward to building on the success of our collaborative digital transformation programmes that embrace satellite technology, the wider space sector and the Government’s Industrial Strategy. This exciting partnership will drive cross-industry understanding and expertise to deliver innovation within digitally-enabled care.”
Stuart Martin, CEO at Satellite Applications Catapult “We are delighted to be continuing our ground-breaking collaboration with the NHS and are proud to be playing what we hope will be a major role in the digital transformation of patient services. The NHS is facing a number of critical challenges, and connectivity and space derived technology has a vital role to play in supporting the delivery of a more preventative care system.”
