NEW technology could help revolutionise the county’s health and social care services under ambitious plans unveiled this week.

The proposals, presented to the newly-formed Oxfordshire Transformation Board, seek to bring health and social care closer together in a “whole-system approach”, with patients given more responsibility for their own care and staff getting greater access to records across different organisations.

At the heart of the scheme is new technology, the implementation of which would help cut costs and allow doctors and nurses to diagnose medical problems at earlier stages.

This could see consultations carried out over the phone or using video-conferencing services such as Skype on the internet.

Nurses in community hospitals – which are to take on a bigger and more specialist roles – are also being provided with devices such as iPads, which allow them to consult specialists in hospitals faster than before.

People with bipolar disorder have also been trialling a system that sees them send updates of their mood via text, allowing mental health specialists to more accurately chart their progress over long periods.

In another hypothetical example, a patient with a heart condition in 2020 is provided with ‘wireless bathroom scales’ which are used to diagnose and treat a build-up of fluids within just three days.

This is because the scales transmit information to a ‘central hub’ of computers, which alerts a nurse who arranges a same day appointment and prescribes new medication.

Senior health figures have been discussing the reforms since March, after forming the transformation board.

Its member organisations include Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, South Central Ambulance Trust, Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Oxfordshire County Council.

Stuart Bell, the board’s chairman and chief executive of Oxford Health, said: “People want to be more involved than ever before in their healthcare and there are several ways new technologies can support that.”

Yesterday Mr Bell presented a report to the Oxfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board.

Consultation on the plans take place next year, with a decision possibly taken by September for a roll-out in October.