News towns or schemes of more than 250 homes will form part of a new NHS England initiative to trial design ideas and digital technologies aimed at improving health…
NHS England is seeking five new towns or developments of more than 250 homes to trial a new project.
The scheme, part of its Five Year Forward Review, will incorporate design ideas and technologies that will improve the wellbeing and the health of the residents.
Chief Executive of NHS England Simon Stevens said interested parties and landowners should come forward by the 30 September. The five winning projects will be revealed in the autumn.
The projects that are taken forward will be given support from NHS England, who will also pay for consultancy advice and upfront development work. It will also use its links to existing project partners such as BT Health to help the projects develop.
A spokesman said: “We want to use this as a test bed on innovations in embedded technology and active monitoring, or facilitating virtual consultations.
“In the US, we know that a lot more healthcare is being run through technology.
“One of the reasons we want to do this is we feel this thinking is not mainstreamed enough, so that’s the longer term objective.”
Old Oak Common, west London; Grosvenor Estate’s Barton Park, Oxford; and Taylor Wimpey’s Cranbrook, east Devon have all said they would be interested in taking part in the scheme.
It is hoped the five towns or developments would help to create communities that not only support social cohesion, but that also lend to physical activities such as walking and cycling.
Additionally, the integration of new digital technologies would enable people to live independently in their own homes, placing care back into these communities.
The schemes could also promote the sharing of land and buildings such as NHS clinics, schools, and other public services.
Stevens said it was important to work with the community to put innovative healthcare at the heart of urban planning.
He added: “We want to work together with local councils and others to design and develop new town partnerships that put innovative health and social care practice at the very heart of urban planning to create healthier places to live from the outset.
“In practical terms that means a triple agenda: designing-in healthy living, capitalising on new home-based care and technologies to support older people at home, and sharing infrastructure across public services to make smarter use of taxpayers investment.”