PATIENTS living in north Ceredigion will soon be able to take part in a community-based teledermatology pilot which will allow them to be treated by consultants based over 100 miles away in Cardiff.

The Mid Wales Healthcare Collaborative and Hywel Dda University Health Board has announced the launch of a six-month dermatology pilot, which will allow patients to be seen by consultants without having to travel outside their community.

Instead, patients will be seen at one of seven GP practices involved in the pilot, which make up the north Ceredigion cluster.

All have been issued with cameras to develop telehealth services across Mid Wales. The images will then be sent on to Cardiff for consultant dermatologists to advise GPs as to how to treat skin conditions.

If successful, the scheme – which is currently used in Cardiff and Birmingham – will be further extended across mid Wales and the Hywel Dda University Health Board area.

The service potentially allows specialists to come to a diagnosis in a highly efficient way, without seeing the patient in person.

See the full story in this week’s Aberystwyth edition of the Cambrian News