Facebook is to provide up to 2,050 of its Portal video calling devices for free to hospitals, care homes and other care locations as part of a deal with NHSX.
The policy unit for digital health in the Department for Health and Social Care said it is working with companies to make the technology widely available to patients and people in care while they are not able to see their friends and families due to the coronavirus lockdown.
It said 50 of the Portals have already been deployed to pilot sites in Surrey, with other deployments to follow in Manchester, Newcastle and London.
NHSX is providing advice on the set-up of devices, cyber and data security and how to complete a factory reset, with technology consultancy Accenture supporting the effort.
Connectvity factor
The locations are being chosen on the basis of their Wi-Fi connectivity, and NHSX is looking at options for care homes that are not connected. These include the possibility of exploiting 4G hotspots.
The homes involved in the pilot will be able to keep the devices free of charge after it has concluded.
NHSX digital transformation director Iain O’Neil said: “Technology companies big and small continue to pledge their resources and expertise to support our NHS and social care system in these unprecedented times.
“We are working hard to find and develop services that meet people’s equally unprecedented needs. Technology has never been so important to providing one of life’s most essential things – the ability to communicate with the people we love regardless of where they are.”
An early initiative emerged this week with the news that Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has reached a deal with WiFi Spark to provide Samsung tablets on secure loans to some of its patients to they can carry out video calling.
Image from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
