More technology to assist care
At an event held yesterday in the House of Commons to launch the Assistive Technology Design and Development Centre, host Dr Howard Stoate MP pointed out that “One in three people in the UK suffer from a chronic illness of one sort or another” and that, “The new mantra is to enable people to be independent as long as possible”.
The actual centre, which will be located “Somewhere in East London” later this year, aims to bridge the gaps between research in universities, the NHS, SMEs, user requirements and getting products to market.
Dr David Chivers, chief executive of NHS Innovations London told the gathering that, “Professor Martin Ferguson-Pell is the inspiration for all this” and that the initiative resulted from a study that found that “Different groups were often working on the same project but did not know about each other” and that there is, “Lot’s of investment and R&D but most does not get to market”. He said they had identified, “110 road blocks to getting assistive technology to market” but the £2.5 million London Development Agency, “To kick this off” would help. Baroness Campbell of Surbiton OBE observed that, “I wouldn’t be here without a whole range of assistive technologies” citing her ventilator, her electric wheelchair and her voice activated computer and added that, “Its not about care its about citizenship”, while Ann Stead OBE, disabled since birth but also able to get around thanks to prosthetics commented that, “It is inconceivable that the benefits of technology should not be shared across the whole population”.
For more information: http://www.nhsinnovationslondon.com
