The University of Plymouth and a collaboration of Cornish and national partners, including in Liskeard, have been awarded £2.7m in European funding to improve the use of e-health in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 

The project, known as E-health Productivity and Innovation in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (EPIC), will involve doctors, nurses, care homes, patients, University academics and small companies to help find the best uses of the internet, apps, and robotics in health and social care. 

Funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), EPIC starts this month and runs for three years.

Initiatives could include use of video calls to better connect care home residents, development and implementation of apps that support people wanting to make positive behavioural changes, care robots to comfort people with dementia, or even the use of drones to get emergency equipment to rural locations quickly.  

The collaboration includes Kernow Health CIC, Cornwall Partners in Care, Patients Association, and Creative England. 

The ERDF grant pays for seven project posts, support for small technology companies and a Challenge Fund of £600,000. Grants from this fund will support small and medium-sized enterprises based in Cornwall, offering the potential to create new jobs and support business growth.

Project staff will support clinicians, patients, carers and others in bidding for funds from the Challenge Fund to develop and test their ideas.

The project will cover all of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly but have bases in general practices and care homes in St Ives, Redruth, and Liskeard as well as University centres in Truro.