Project Update
The Scottish teledialysis pilot went live at the beginning of March 2010, after NHS Highland installed new mobile video conferencing equipment in the renal unit at Raigmore Hospital and the satellite renal unit at Caithness General Hospital, Wick.
Regular twice weekly updates are now being held between the units to discuss issues relating to patient care. Nurses at Wick now have remote access to the full programme of in-house training and education sessions provided at Raigmore, enabling them to develop their skills.
Patients undergoing dialysis at the Wick unit are now being reviewed by consultants using video conferencing in alternate months; this will free up more appointments at the busy monthly outpatient clinics, and reduce the need for patients to travel to Inverness. The first live reviews with a proportion of dialysis patients took place in March, with further ‘virtual ward rounds’ in May and July. Other members of the multi-disciplinary renal team – dieticians, pharmacists, physiotherapist - intend to maintain closer contact with dialysis patients, using the new service. For example, the physiotherapist will be able to directly monitor patients' exercise regime from a distance.
Speech therapists in the North Highland Community Health Partnership area continue to actively explore ways of providing a remote service to patients using video conferencing technology, based on the Swedish model. Limited trials with a patient have been conducted since February, with a positive outcome.
The Centre for Rural Health (CRH)
The Centre for Rural Health (CRH) was formed from the previously established Highlands and Islands Health Research Institute (HIHRI) in 2004. Since 2005, CRH has operated as a collaborative venture between the University of Aberdeen and UHI Millenium Institute.
For more information on the Centre of Rural Health please visit www.abdn.ac.uk/crh
Picturesque and historic Old Aberdeen - home of Elphinstone's original foundation - is now the main university site, only one mile from the city centre. The 15th century remains very much alive in King's College, offering a sense of history in the daily life of a university now focused on the needs of the new millennium.
The Institute of Applied Health Sciences
The Institute of Applied Health Sciences (IAHS) came into being in 1999 and was created from the critical mass of health and health service researchers who were part of the former medical faculty. Its first Director was Professor Cairns Smith. Professor Phil Hannaford took over as Institute Director in 2002. The IAHS is one of the two research institutes of the College of Life Sciences and Medicine - the other research institute being the Institute of Medical Sciences, which conducts laboratory based biomedical research. The IAHS is an enabling structure that facilitates research for health services researchers and provides appropriate specialist facilities for their research. The IAHS pursues an agenda of excellence in health services research and scored a rating of 5 in the 2001 RAE. Its current research grant holdings stand at £38.5 million. The IAHS is currently training circa 70 PhD students.
The Institute's mission is:
"To improve health and health care delivery through excellence in applied health sciences research"
IAHS intends achieving this mission by creating a vibrant research culture that provides staff with the support and facilities required for the efficient conduct of research into the need for, access to and delivery of healthcare. The research contributes locally, nationally and internationally to the evidence base needed by individuals, health care providers and organisations when making decisions about maximising health and optimising health care services. As well as producing high quality research findings, the Institute contributes to building capacity in health service research by providing training and development opportunities for its members.