The Department of Health and Social Care, in collaboration with Cabinet Office, is inviting applications for a graduate intern to support the development of telemedicine initiatives on the Island.

As part of its charitable support for health on the Isle of Man, the Henry Bloom Noble Healthcare Trust has agreed to fund a 12 month graduate telemedicine internship.

Telemedicine is the use of telecommunication and information technologies to enable healthcare professionals evaluate, diagnose and treat patients at a distance. Patients can receive medical expertise quickly, efficiently and where possible without the need to travel off-island for specialist care.

Minister of Health and Social Care, Howard Quayle MHK said: “The Department’s Strategy focuses on enhancing services, modernising procedures and improving performance.

“We must consider how to introduce telemedicine and other advances in technology to deliver a high standard of specialist care, diagnosis and treatment quickly and effectively.

“There are significant opportunities for developing the use of telemedicine to allow specialists to offer diagnosis from a distance, based on test results sent electronically, seeing the patient on camera and discussing the case with the patient and members of the healthcare team on Island.

“This internship, generously supported by the Henry Bloom Noble Healthcare Trust, will lead the way in exploring what works well in telemedicine elsewhere and developing proposals for how we can adopt the technology.”

Mark Lewin, Director of Government Technology Services in Cabinet Office said: “As part of the Government’s Digital Strategy, we aim to encourage health and care professionals to embrace telemedicine as a way of enhancing patient care, ensuring that clinical staff have the right information for the right patient in the right place.”

Chairman of the Henry Bloom Noble Healthcare Trust, Laurence Keenan said: “The Trustees are pleased to support this first step towards telemedicine provision on the Island. This is an exciting opportunity to work together to develop the future of healthcare. Such partnerships are made possible by the generosity of those making donations and through bequests.”

This internship is a limited term placement for a recently qualified graduate in either a technical, medical, engineering or related field.

The role will explore best practice and developments in the field focussing on researching and mapping out the opportunities to use telemedicine to transform care pathways.

Application information is available online at www.gov.im.