Digital Health Links Patients to Knowledge Base

Manchester has become a hub for some of the world’s best digital and health research following the opening of a new home to the Health eResearch Centre of the Farr Institute at the University by Life Sciences Minister George Freeman in March.

Vaughan House will provide a leading venue to develop new technologies that can empower patients to understand and take control over their own healthcare through smartphones, wearable devices and healthcare records.

Academic, healthcare and business leaders welcomed the minister who also endorsed the Greater Manchester Academic Health Science Network’s DataWell project at CityLabs during his visit. The project links data across different health care organisations to provide a solution to improving both direct clinical care and how patients access information about their wellbeing.  He was also able to see how the Manchester Science Partnership is growing a new concentration of businesses at the junction of NHS and University sites to incubate growth in the digital health sector.

George Freeman, MP said: “Manchester is playing a central role in developing new 21^st century innovations for patients. By shifting the digital power to patients we are allowing them to monitor their own health through things like wearable devices and apps. It is great to see this work being led in Manchester through the Academic Health Science Network, supporting the local needs of the health and social care services.”

Ian Greer, Vice-President and Dean of Medical and Human Science Faculty at The University of Manchester said:  “Vast amounts of data are collected every day by health care organisations across Greater Manchester. Used together and responsibly, this is a mine of information which can improve public services, develop new treatments and save time and money.

“Greater Manchester is a leader in this emerging field, so we were very happy that the minister is speaking to us and learn how what we are doing here can be applied further afield.”