telemedicine on trial in prison
A telemedicine pilot project has proved successful in the province of Luxembourg and more particularly at the prison of Marche-en-Famenne.
A telemedicine pilot project had been launched by the province of Luxembourg to improve the quality of health care and the work of nurses and doctors involved in the care of prisoners. This one-year experiment ended this summer on a positive note. A continuation of the device is currently planned.
This innovative project is part of the reflection led by the Luxembourg province to develop and improve, through connected tools and video consultations, medical services in rural areas. Who says rural region indeed says sometimes difficult mobility and lack of doctors.
Two ongoing projects
A reflection which had led, in 2018, to a first experience of using telemedicine in a nursing home in Villers-sur-Orval with a connected stethoscope. In 2021, a call for projects entitled “Telemedicine in my nursing home” was launched to improve the organization of residents’ healthcare. Two projects are then underway: teleconsultation at Home Libert in Marche and tele-expertise in dermatology at Home Jamotte in La Roche.
In the detention centre, the infirmary is accessible to detainees from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. One or two nurses are always on site. General practitioners take turns for two hours a day to ensure permanence in the prison, in addition to their activity in private practice. If an incident occurs outside the doctor’s on-site hours, the prison nurses contact him by telephone. Either the doctor gives an opinion by telephone, or he goes to the prison, or he sends the patient back to the emergency room.
Improve the quality of care provided
But it’s not always easy for doctors to give an opinion and make a diagnosis on the basis of a simple telephone conversation with the nurse. It is following this observation that the province of Luxembourg launched and financially supported this project of glasses connected to the infirmary of the prison of Marche.
This pilot project is therefore the result of a partnership between the province of Luxembourg, the management of the Marche prison, the general practitioners working in the Marche prison and the team of nurses. Video consultation and the price of remote parameters make it possible to complete the doctor’s analysis and to objectify the medical information transmitted to improve the quality of the care provided. He can thus better organize his visits to the prison and order the necessary extractions with more knowledge of the patient’s condition.
Field needs met
In the opinion of all, after feedback, the system meets the needs of the field. It improves the speed of care, frees time for doctors who do not have to travel and optimizes care by nurses. From the point of view of the overall balance between the cost of the material and the expenses linked to the extraction of an inmate, the balance is also positive.
“All users are convinced of the significant improvement in the care of detained patients thanks to this device,” explains Stephan De Mul, provincial deputy in charge of social and health. The experiment supported by the province of Luxembourg should continue at the Marche prison. A budget request to move into the operational phase is in progress. The project could be extended to the monitoring of certain pathologies such as chronic diseases, diabetes or the monitoring of wounds. The remote worker would be the diabetology or endocrinology department of the hospital.