In our second story about the Centre for Online Health in Queensland (COH) (‘Robots’ make sick kids in country Queensland feel better) we find out how COH helps a British Charity deliver free specialist medical advice to 120 remote hospitals in over 30 developing countries.

The Swinfen Charitable Trust (SCT) (www.uq.edu.au), was set up in 1998 by Lord and Lady Swinfen to assist people in the developing world with telemedicine links to medical specialists around the globe.

COH works closely with the charity on the development, operation and evaluation of the telemedicine service.

According to COH Research Director, Professor Richard Wootton, telemedicine does not have to be expensive or complicated.

“The use of low cost telemedicine such as email has proven to be very useful in developing countries.

“Doctors email clinical questions and sometimes attach digital images such as x-rays and test results, directly to a single contact address.

“All emails sent to the telemedicine service are administered in Brisbane through the COH and also by the SCT in Kent, England. Each request is reviewed and forwarded to the most appropriate specialist,” Richard explained.

“We have more than 300 volunteer specialists worldwide all of whom generously provide free advice by email”.

The number of referrals made to the SCT has steadily increased over the years, and in response the COH has developed special software to automate some of the message handling.

The COH Auto-router can direct email traffic between referring clinicians and specialists and also provides daily activity reports for the administrators responsible for monitoring responses.

“Common forms of communication such as email can achieve a lot in the right circumstances. We’re able to help clinicians working in developing countries get convenient access to specialist opinions, which otherwise would be not be possible in these areas” he said.