As a result the Government pledged this week to bring the benefits of telehealth and telecare to three million people in England with long-term conditions. This will include elsewhere within Kent and Medway, Surrey and Sussex, where we are looking to roll-out home-based technology to other patients to help them improve their quality of life and stay healthy; preventing unnecessary hospital admissions.
Telehealth technology uses electronic equipment to monitor patients’ health and send readings remotely to health professionals; helping patients manage their conditions at home and stay independent, while ensuring access to treatment should they need it.
One local patient, 54-year-old Haris Patel from Folkestone - who suffers from a number of health conditions including vascular disease – is already benefiting from the new technology. “Before I had telehealth, I used to spend ten months of each year in hospital. Since I got it, I have been in for two weeks in the last three years, and that was planned,” explains Mr Patel. “Telehealth gives me peace of mind.”
New technology is also improving care for patients in hospital. Stroke patients across Surrey are benefiting from a new telemedicine system - operating across five acute hospitals - which means no matter what time of day or night a patient is brought in a stroke specialist can assess them quickly, even if they aren’t on site. The 24/7 service allows consultants specialising in stroke to assess the patient from their bedside out of hours using videoconferencing software.
Where appropriate they can then give the go-ahead for patients to be treated with a clot-busting drug (known as thrombolysis treatment), with speedy treatment vital to improving the recovery of stroke patients. This system is also used across Kent and Medway, with plans to introduce similar care across all parts of Sussex.
Commenting on this pioneering use of technology to improve care for patients, William Roche, Medical Director for the NHS in the region, said: “The NHS across Kent, Surrey and Sussex is increasing the benefits to patients of new technology to improve their outcomes and the quality of the specialist care they receive, whilst also making NHS services more productive.”
For further information please contact Dean Gargano on 01293 778849 or Julia Rogers on 01227 791163 to arrange an interview with patient Haris Patel.
Kent telehealth • Kent was one of three locations within England that took part in a three-year Whole System Demonstrator trial co-ordinated by the Department of Health, to pilot the use of telehealth and telecare equipment. Telehealth uses electronic equipment to monitor patients’ vital health signs and send readings remotely to health professionals, while telecare offers 24-hour monitoring of people’s safety, using personal and environmental sensors in the home. For further information see
http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2011/12/wsd-headline-findings/.
• The Kent pilot found that over a six month period the use of telehealth technology resulted in productivity savings of around £1,878 per patient; which could result in potential savings of around £7.5 million if used across Kent for the appropriate patients. Following the successful pilot project, NHS Kent and Medway, Kent Community Health Trust and Kent County Council are already working to bring telehealth and telecare to more patients in the county.
• Care Services Minister Paul Burstow announced Government plans to bring telehealth and telecare to more patients on 3 January 2012, pledging to work with industry, the NHS and local councils to change the lives of three million people with long-term conditions across England over the next five years. see
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=422699&SubjectId=2)
