S4O-01461: Telehealth

3. To ask the Scottish Government how it promotes telehealth across the country. (S4O-01461)

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing (Alex Neil): The Scottish Government, working in partnership with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, is currently developing a national delivery plan for telehealth and telecare. I would be delighted to make that plan available to Gil Paterson when it is published next month.

Gil Paterson: Can the cabinet secretary clarify what is being done to ensure that national health service boards adopt e-health and telehealth systems for both cost and clinical benefits?

Alex Neil: The document “eHealth Strategy 2011-17” sets out the key e-health deliverables that NHS boards will take forward over the lifetime of the strategy. The strategy has six strategic aims, four of which are concerned with different clinical benefits and one of which deals specifically with realising efficiencies and savings. The Scottish Government currently provides funding of £17 million per annum to deliver those strategic aims. Activity on e-health is integrated with each health board’s planning and delivery cycle, and all local and national e-health investment is subject to regular monitorin