On screen, a tiny heart beats in the womb. As he watches it
carefully, consultant paediatric cardiologist Dr Andrew Tometzki
talks to the mother-to-be and the consultant obstetrician at their
local hospital.
A normal consultation except that the mother, her doctor, and
the ultrasound scanner are in Truro, while Dr Tometzki is here in
the 
children's hospital in
Bristol.
The unit is expanding its telemedicine service a live link
with referring hospitals that allows consultants to view data from
distant machines in real time, and with the extreme precision
required for fetal and paediatric consultations, while having a
virtual conversation with the family.
Dr Tometzki has already used it to make diagnoses. In the
future, the service will be extended to more of our referring
centres. And telemedicines greatest value will be to patients
admitted in emergencies, hundreds of miles from specialist
help.
It allows us to make an acute diagnosis and helps us and the
referring paediatricians decide whether and how to transfer a child
to us, using intensive care support if needs be, says Dr Tometzki.
The quality of the link means its like being in the room with the
patient and looking directly at the scan.
