Rural Broadband, Rural Health

I’ve posted before on the issues surrounding access to decent quality broadband services in the Highlands.


What I learned today added a whole new dimension.

I was in Inverness on business today, attending an HIE conference on Digital Healthcare and how it supports the emerging P4 strategy for service delivery – Predictive, Preventative, Personalised, Participatory.

Speakers – clinicians, academic researchers, technologists – all described what is possible in terms of delivering the P4 strategy in rural communities. The essence of which is that instead of requiring people to travel to a GP or major health centre for “treatment”, they can take responsibility for their own health by being able to access information, diagnostics, services and on-line communities. The potential benefits - in terms of quality of healthcare outcomes and cost-effective service delivery - are immense.

The Murray Community Healthcare Partnership is already piloting these ideas with the Health E-care Portal and the Dot Rural project. In Inverness, UHI and the Centre for Health Science are involved in world class research and development around the concept.

In the workshops, however, it was clear how big a barrier the rural broadband issue is. If people and communities don’t have decent internet access, they can't exploit such services. And what really surprised me was how vocal the delegates were about why this was a POLITICAL issue that the Scottish Parliament must address.

Decent broadband services in the islands and other rural areas aren’t just about on-line shopping. They are fundamental to achieving excellence in health outcomes in a cost effective way.

Labour’s Digital Britain Strategy points the way.

The Scottish Government needs to make it happen.