by Trevor Sturgess

Kent Science Park aims to be in pole position as a new “telecare centre of excellence”, designed to improve the health of an aging population.

In a move backed by motor racing team McLaren, among other sponsors, The Sittingbourne complex was named by the South East Health Technologies Alliance (SEHTA) as one of three centres across the south east to promote telecare and the remote delivery of health care.

Telecare businesses provide remote medical and other care for elderly and vulnerable people.

The centres will meet the needs of older people, with KSP focusing on private care homes and the domiciliary care market. They are all due to be up and running by the Spring.

Other centres are at the University of Southampton and the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury.

Each site will enable firms to demonstrate, test and showcase existing and future technology and encourage them to forge local partnerships. They will also support smaller businesses with incubation space and workshops.

David Parry, SEHTA’s chief executive officer, said: “It is well documented that as a nation we are getting older. One third of the population, or 20 million people, in the UK are aged 50 or older and this will increase to 50 per cent by 2029.

“And a long life does not necessarily mean a healthy one. There are, according to Help the Aged, a staggering 17.5 million people living in the UK with chronic illness. It is easy to understand the enormous burden this places on an already stretched National Health Service.

“The remote delivery of health care will play a much bigger role in enabling people to access healthcare advice and treatment in the home or workplace.”

SEEDA, the South East England Development Agency, is backing the project as part of its support for health technologies, a key industry in Kent and the south east.

Ann Johnstone, SEEDA’s head of innovation policy, added: “These three centres of excellence will enable businesses, universities and hospitals undertaking research to work together to address and create solutions to this very real challenge.

“South East England has a large number of companies operating in this field from small technology businesses to large global communications companies. This activity will help position the South East as a global leader in the development of telecare and the remote delivery of health care.”