Belfast MedTech firm HSL has launched a new telehealth solution that will help it quickly and accurately diagnose strokes in Northern Ireland, saving lives.
Over 4,000 people are admitted to hospital in Northern Ireland with a primary diagnosis of stroke each year, and over 1,000 will die from the condition. The most important thing for preventing serious damage and death from a stroke is to catch it as early as possible and get the patient to hospital, and that means having a quick diagnosis.
Hospital Services Limited (HSL) has now launched a new addition to its Telehealth solution that aims to reduce the time required for diagnosis of stroke in Northern Ireland. Telehealth has been used previously to allow remote medical examination and diagnostics in care homes, and has now been approved for use with the emergency assessment of patients with suspected stroke in Northern Ireland.
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The Telehelath system can be installed in A&E departments or primary care facilities, providing a video linkup to remote consultants when needed and tools that can be used to record health data. If someone presents at A&E with suspected stroke, the staff can now call in a consultant who will communicate via a smartphone or tablet and make an exopert diagnosis.
Remote healthcare tech is starting to become incredibly important as A&E is a much higher-risk area for consultants due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Enabling remote consultation keeps the consultant safe, reduces consultation time, and allows a consultant to see a larger number of patients all across the country.
HSL CEO Dominic Walsh said: "We believe that our Telehealth platform will transform the diagnosis of this condition as it will enable stroke consultants to support their clinical colleagues as soon as a patient presents at A&E, giving them the facilities they need to undertake a risk-free diagnosis of the extent and nature of the stroke and to provide timely, lifesaving interventions."
Source: Written based on press release
