On Wednesday 14 October 2026, the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) reported that 6G-CARE, a new three-year European project coordinated by LIST and funded by the European Union will test next-generation connectivity in six real healthcare settings across Europe.
According to LIST, the project, funded through the EU’s Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU), brings together 18 partners from nine countries to test next-generation connectivity with real patients and care teams across six use cases: remote physiotherapy in care homes in Luxembourg, connected ambulances in the Barcelona area, emergency disaster care in Crete, home-based sleep apnoea treatment in France, mobile autism assessment in the UK, and connected first responders in Belgium.
The technology will allow for scenarios such as an ambulance crew showing a patient’s injuries to a specialist hundreds of kilometres away, an older person doing physiotherapy at home while their therapist watches every movement in real time, and a family who can receive an autism assessment in their local community hall instead of waiting months for a clinic appointment. LIST emphasised that these are the kinds of everyday improvements that 6G-CARE sets out to make real.
6G-CARE brings together eighteen partners from nine countries – hospitals, emergency services, telecom operators, technology companies and research centres – to show how the next generation of mobile networks can help. Rather than staying in the lab, the project will work directly with the people who deliver care, testing solutions with real patients, real responders and real clinical teams.
“Healthcare across Europe is under pressure. Populations are ageing, costs are rising and there are not enough doctors, nurses and therapists to go around. At the same time, people rightly expect care that is quicker, more personal and easier to reach, wherever they live,” said LIST in its press release.
Six trials, six everyday challenges
Luxembourg: rehabilitation without the commute. Residents of care homes will do their physiotherapy where they live, with a therapist guiding them live through an immersive 3D view. The same approach will help ambulance crews get expert advice on the spot, for example to decide quickly where to send severely burned patients, who must be transferred to specialist centres in France or Belgium.
Belgium: emergency teams that stay connected. Responders at outdoor incidents will get a reliable connection and diagnostic support wherever they are working.
Spain: from the road to the hospital, without losing a minute. Around Barcelona, ambulances will share live patient information with the hospital on the way in, so the care team is ready the moment the patient arrives.
Greece: care that keeps going when disaster strikes. In Crete, where earthquakes and floods can cut communications, portable network units, drones and wearable sensors will keep patients monitored and help teams coordinate.
France: easier nights for people with sleep apnoea. Working with Linde Homecare, the project will help continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy adapt to each patient, so fewer people give up on a treatment that many abandon within months.
United Kingdom: shorter waits for autism assessments. Mobile hubs will bring specialist assessments to community venues, helping neurodivergent people who face long waiting lists and difficult journeys.
LIST said that the project aims for clear, measurable results: faster emergency response, tools that clinicians find easy to use, fewer unnecessary journeys for patients and staff – and with them, lower carbon emissions. Everything will be designed with privacy, safety and trust built in from the start, and lessons from all six countries will be shared openly to help other regions adopt what works.
Sébastien Faye, 6G-CARE Project Coordinator at LIST, said: “The question we keep asking is what difference next-generation connectivity, and ultimately 6G, will make to a patient, a nurse or a paramedic on an ordinary Tuesday. Whether it is an older person recovering at home, a family waiting for a diagnosis, or an ambulance crew making a split-second decision, connectivity and intelligence should work together to make it possible to deliver care more reliably, more rapidly and closer to where people live. By testing these technologies in six very different places across Europe, together with the healthcare professionals who will actually use them, we want to show where advanced, AI-native connectivity can make a real difference and help turn 6G innovation into everyday healthcare.”
A European effort
6G-CARE is funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme, through the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU). The SNS JU’s support is part of a wider European effort to ensure that advances in 6G lead to measurable benefits for citizens and public services.
Chiara Mazzone, Programme Officer at the SNS JU, said: “6G-CARE reflects a key ambition of the SNS JU: ensuring that next-generation networks are shaped by real societal needs. Healthcare is a particularly demanding sector, where reliability, trust and resilience are essential. By bringing these requirements into the development and validation of future connectivity solutions, the project can help advance 6G technologies that deliver meaningful benefits to essential services and society.”
