A WORLD renowned healthcare expert has described the use of new technology in Millom as "pioneering" and among the most innovative in the country.

Senior Harvard medical professor Don Berwick, who is also an appointed patient safety expert for the NHS, travelled to Lancaster yesterday to see the Millom's telehealth system in action.

The new kit, installed last year as part of the region's Better Care Together programme, allows patients in the town to speak to specialists at either Furness General Hospital, in Barrow, or the Royal Lancaster Infirmary Practice from Waterloo House Surgery.

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Prof Berwick said the use of the new technology was an example of a community using its healthcare provision in a "smarter way".

"What I have seen here with the use of a telemedicine system making sure patients in a more remote part of Morecambe Bay have equal access to the best specialists is visionary," he added.

"This is an example of a community healthcare system reinventing itself around its people, which is marvellous."

Millom's telehealth system was one of a number of new measures introduced last year to help improve people's access to healthcare across the area and reduce the cost of expensive hospital care.

It is part of Better Care Together, a blueprint for how health services will be provided across Furness and south Cumbria over the next five years.

The scheme, regarded as a "Vanguard model" by the Department of Health, has been awarded nearly £9m in government funding since its launch two years ago.

Other new initiatives viewed by Prof Berwick on his visit included an email link used by GPs across the area allowing them to seek direct advice from hospital specialists on whether patients should be referred to hospital.

In its first year, it has reduced hospital outpatient appointments across south Cumbria by 1,500.

Overall, 11 healthcare organisations across Morecambe Bay are part of the Better Care Together project to promote closer working and eliminate duplication and waste.

Prof Berwick said the roll-out of new ways of working while the NHS was under pressure nationally was a positive move.

"It's exciting to see a health care system doing the right thing for its own community.

"This is certainly a time for communities to step up and take the initiative, even while the NHS as a whole is struggling."

Jackie Daniel, chief executive of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust - the organisation in charge of FGH - said the visit had been inspiring.

"It's fantastic to listen to staff talking today about how they are involved and the difference this is making across the system already."

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