Welsh academic question for e-health companies

Less than half a million pounds is a relatively small sum in terms of government funding, but Swansea University's school of medicine hopes its Welsh Assembly Government grant will be a catalyst for some big developments in e-health. The £446,002 grant was awarded under the EU-backed Academic Expertise for Business programme to create a new E-Health Industries Innovation Centre (EHi2) based in the school of medicine. The idea is that EHi2 will be a "one stop shop" where companies will bring e-health proposals to be developed by drawing on the facilities and academic expertise of the university. These could be technologies to help elderly people remain in their own homes; to provide remote monitoring of acute conditions or remote diagnoses; or mobile solutions for GPs and community nurses. David Ford, director of the centre at Swansea University's school of medicine, says: "The purpose of EHi2 is really to bring some of our expertise – we have a considerable team of people working on different aspects related to e-health – together with some of the physical facilities we have, such as the Blue C supercomputer and the Health Informatics Research Laboratories, which are the result of a collaboration between Informing Healthcare and ourselves." He describes how the medical school has used the labs to create a range of NHS settings – perhaps a hospital ward, a GP surgery, a community pharmacy, or a patient's home – and used these physical spaces to develop and test e-health technologies. "What makes that particularly potent," claims Ford, "Is that we also have a very large server farm in which we run lots and lots of current NHS IT systems. We can then make these systems and services live, filled with large scale test data, in these synthetic environments." Currently these facilities are used extensively to support Informing Healthcare's work in Wales, but through EHi2 they can be made available to support companies. Another benefit is the location of EHi2 next to a hospital which forms part of one of the biggest health bodies in Wales, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University health board. "We work very closely with the health board, which all goes into the mix so that when a company comes through the door it can gain access to clinical health services staff, which we think is pretty unique," says Ford. Lesley Griffiths, the Welsh science, innovation and skills minister, says that a key part of the aim in funding EHi2 is to support indigenous business, saying that it "gives Welsh companies a competitive edge creating significant growth and employment opportunities". Local interest So far 45 companies in Wales have already expressed an interest in joining the project, with another 30 having enquired. There is also interest from companies elsewhere in the UK and overseas. Ford is reluctant to provide names before contacts are signed, but says that they range from software giants and major infrastructure companies to small start ups. Asked about the risk that small Welsh businesses could be squeezed out by the big firms, Ford responds: "It's a competitive environment, but there is plenty of opportunity out there, particularly if they don't constrict themselves to thinking that the NHS is the end of the horizon. Actually with India, and particularly China and the US, spending vast sums in this domain, there is a lot of work to be had." He believes the current financial climate to be a "double edged sword" in that although UK spending will be significantly constrained, companies which can demonstrate an ability to help the NHS save money by improving efficiency and effectiveness will find new opportunities. Ford is unclear about what products are likely to emerge from EHi2, but says that nothing is being ruled out. "Our particular strengths in Swansea are around patient record systems, but increasingly this strays into systems to enable individuals to support themselves. "I suppose where we put a boundary around our particular expertise is that we are not electronic engineers, so we are not producing electronic devices themselves, such as those that can be used for patient monitoring. But we are very keen to find some of those technologies – either from industry or other domains – and seeing if we can architect them into solutions which would benefit healthcare providers and patients." Ford predicts that the new centre will be unique in its ability to support substantial advancement in e-health, providing an opportunity for Wales to become an international focus for the healthcare technology sector. Funding for EHi2 was announced in July, and the project remains at an early stage. It is currently recruiting senior staff, but Ford anticipates a "burst of activity" over the next few months in preparation for a launch at the end of year. The serious work will begin in 2011.