What is the potential role of 5G in palliative care?

That’s the question that Sensor City CEO, Joanne Phoenix, has been trying to answer at an event discussing the role of different emerging technologies in key areas of healthcare this week. The event attracted health and technology practitioners from across the UK .

Sensor City is the lead organisation in the Liverpool 5G Health and Social Care project; the organisation is a hub for innovative technology collaborations between the University of Liverpool and John Moores University.

5G and Palliative care is an area of interest to Liverpool 5G because the project funded The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospital has been funded to trial the use of virtual Reality headsets showing short films of forests, beaches or similar, as a means of pain distraction on palliative care wards in the hospital. The availability of a 5G connection has meant that a larger amount of data can be downloaded faster and more reliably, which means patients have a far greater choice of images and films to choose from, making the resource more enjoyable and effective for patients.