Praise all round for Carecall

 Carecall, the telemonitoring service for older and vulnerable people in the Stockport area, received their award as Premium Member of the Telecare Services Association (TSA), the national governing body for Telecare and Telehealth in the UK on 15 November 2010. The award was presented by Fran Taberner, Chair of the TSA at an event held at the Hilton Metropole in London.

Over 800 delegates attended the three day national conference for presentations, workshops and to pick up best practice tips from others in the industry. Carecall were invited to run a workshop ‘Pathway to accreditation’ to support and advise others in gaining the TSA accreditation due to the success of Carecall’s own project. Delegates attending the work shop have since requested a further training session to see how the code has affected working practices and to further discuss the processes involved. Delegates will be attending the session at the Carecall office in Bredbury from all over the country with one attending from Bosch, Germany.

There were representatives from service providers from across the UK and manufacturers demonstrating new technologies and compared by writer and Broadcaster Roy Lilley. Delegates were also treated to an insight from a family’s perspective of an Alzheimer’s sufferer when former GMTV anchor Fiona Phillips gave a frank and honest account of how telecare has helped her father live independently at home.

Dot Frith, Carecall Manager for Stockport Homes said: “This has been a fantastic end to the year for Carecall, demonstrating to our customers that we stand for quality. And we’re not going to stop there. We also have an exciting year ahead with more services to offer in 2011 helping the older and more vulnerable residents of Stockport to live independently, giving them, their friends and family peace of mind.”

For more information on Carecall you can visit Stockport Homes’ website www.stockporthomes.org click on Our Services / Carecall or call them on 0500 130 585.

Lone Worker Safety Training

Lone worker safety training and the need for clear policies has become more and more paramount and relevant, with recent headlines proving this point in an ever so apparent way. Over the past two months alone, headlines included: ‘Traffic Warden attacked’, ‘Warden punched by ticketed driver’, ‘Dundee Nurse’s After Dark Fear’ and ‘Violence Life of Hospital Staff’ to name just a few.

Nigel Dean, Head of Health Sector Development, Telefonica O2 UK Limited, stated in October 2008: “81% of Lone Workers are concerned about violence or aggression”. While lone worker safety training alone will not reduce the incidence of violence but it must be an essential part of an organisation’s approach to managing violence and aggression in the workplace. Front-line staff who have gained a better understanding of the risks involved when working alone, will by far be more likely to make the right decisions in situations of conflict, aggression and hostility.

Good lone worker safety training will focus on the prevention of incidents, rather than on how to deal with conflict itself. Conflict management training and conflict resolution training is of great importance, but the great British saying ‘prevention is better than cure’, ~Could not make more sense, than within the world of lone worker safety training.

Improving the communication and reporting procedures, within teams of lone workers has to be top priority. It is a matter of fact that family relationships, business partnerships and friendships have broken apart, and even wars have broken and innocent people lost their lives, simply due to a breakdown of communication and inadequate flow of information. Effective lone worker safety training must include clear guidelines and often a ‘wake up call’ on what accurate information needs to be passed on to co-workers in order for them to get a clear understanding of what exact risk factors are associated to what client.

Every human being and subsequently every lone worker has got his or her own perception of the terminology ‘risk’ and every lone worker has got an own opinion what can be classed as ‘I think I have handled this situation quite well!’ or ‘Was this really important enough to report and inform my co-workers?’ One might be brave, one might be more confident, one might be more experienced and another one might be inexperienced or not aware of certain risk factors associated to a client. Good quality lone worker safety training is about creating a platform or standard, every team member will work to. It is about making absolutely clear that gathering accurate and up-to-date information and making them easily accessible to co-workers, is crucial for them to make effective plans on how to successfully reduce the risk of workplace violence and improve their personal safety.

Lone worker safety training can in my professional opinion not be a ‘lecture’ or ’speech’ based around a PowerPoint Presentation only. It really should be about sitting down with you, listening to what you have got to say and then come up with the best possible plan everyone understands and will work to.

Some of the most important subjects that deserve to be covered and discussed when aiming to improving the personal safety of frontline staff are as follows:

- How to reduce violence at work?

- Improving Communication between Team Members

- Improving Reporting Procedures

- Correct Preparation, Completion and Understanding of Risk Assessments

- Effective Control of Lone Worker Visits

- Your Heightened State of Awareness

- Clear Understanding of Your Job Role

- The Importance of Body Language & Confidence

- Responding to Physical & Verbal Aggression

If I can give one good advise to trainers and instructors who take on the great task of delivering training programs, engage with the audience, ask them questions, and allow them to explain to you what they personally have experienced and what situations they might fear. Don’t get into the habit of just doing your job. The words you chose and the advise you give can potentially save human lives. Be aware of that and don’t forget it!

Follow the Money with GPS Tracking

GPS tracking has been used to assist lone workers in every industry, including construction, law enforcement, education, and countless more. The devices have tracked everything from gas mileage to paroled criminals to cameras on balloons taking pictures of the curvature of the earth. Now, the technology may protect your savings from walking out the door of your local bank with a bank robber.

GPS: Better Than a Vault

Criminals have long held the edge over law enforcement when it comes to getaways, simply because it is impossible to predict when and where a crime might occur. Once the thief has gotten away with the loot, the task of tracking him down becomes a difficult game of deduction and observation. In many cases, criminals get away with the crime altogether when there simply isn’t enough evidence to lead law enforcement officers to the perpetrators. With the advent of tracking technology, however, all that is changing.

A GPS tracking device will monitor the movements of whoever or whatever it has been attached to by sending a signal to a computer or receiving device. It can also keep track of stops made, speed traveled, and vehicle efficiency. Popular uses include personal safety devices for runners and hikers, tracking for children, asset protection for valuables, and vehicle monitoring. What some would-be bank robbers don’t realize, however, is that the banking industry has begun to utilize the capabilities of the devices to stop thieves in their tracks.

LA Banks Turn to GPS

One such robber was apprehended in Los Angeles by the LAPD shortly after he demanded a bag of cash from a local bank. Unknown to the thief, the bank had included a tracking unit in his bag. Within moments, police were able to pinpoint his location on a southbound bus where they took him into custody and relieved him of his newly acquired capital. Without the device, the officers might have spent weeks or months searching for the man without any guarantee of recovering the money if and when he was apprehended. With the technology, however, the problem became a simple case of stopping the bus and checking each passenger as they exited.

Let bank robbers beware. Banks are no longer sitting ducks waiting to fill your hands with easy money. Now, they have GPS tracking devices on their side. Law abiding citizens can rest easier knowing that their money is protected and that police have the latest technology working to keep it that way.

Uncovering GPS Tracking Devices: What Is A Geo-Fence?

GPS tracking devices are this century's real discovery when it comes to childcare and looking after youths. Historically parents have lost sleep due to stress over these two vulnerable groups.

Busy mothers and fathers can't be with children all the time as they have to work, so this can lead to worry about whether they are safe.

Teens are a different proposition altogether! They actively seek to go against their parents' wishes, being out with their friends when meant to be studying, and maybe even vanishing!

Taking care of them was a challenge indeed for mums and dads in the past, but that was then and this is now. Parents now have a new weapon in their armoury, GPS tracking.

These are becoming increasingly well-liked the more well known they become, because elders are seeing that the power to know their kids' location at any time and be able to stay in touch in an emergency scenario thanks to SOS calling is a bonus indeed.

There is another function of GPS tracking devices that parents should think about though, geo-fences.

A geo-fence is a pre-defined area that is around one point. If the GPS tracking device goes out of this area then the user will be notified with a message.

It's straight away clear that folks could outline an area around their home or locale so as to keep control of the kids. If they did happen to stray outside of this boundary a straightforward text would be sent to the parent who could then see where they had gone actually.

For younger children GPS tracking devices could just be attached to their backpack or coat, but fortunately these devices are truly tiny and so could be concealed from the far more sensitive kids very easily.

If you are selling these devices it's important to educate how they work to consumers.

These devices will mechanically receive location thanks to satellite signals coming from overhead, but so as to send alerts they need to have a SIM card.

GPS tracking devices with geo-fence capability will also have their own mapping software which must be used to line up the boundary. This is really easy, but since it varies per device you as the vendor must be prepared to give some categorical advice so as to offer reasonable customer service.

buyers using GPS tracking devices with geo-fence to keep watch on their youngsters of any age must be conscious of signal radius ( which will affect how gigantic their geo-fence can be ), battery charge lifespan and GPS chipset.

If the device's battery is weak then it limits how long the individual can be tracked for and the same can be said for the chipset which is the brain of the gadget. If the device loses the GPS signal you will not be in a position to track the kid and therefore the chipset's capacity is critical too.

Size is also an argument as it is vital for the device to be subtle or, better, invisible as children and especially teenagers may not welcome being tracked!

If you're a parent who concerns about their children's safety or whereabouts then GPS tracking devices with geo-fence can at last give you the reassurance that you've been searching for, regardless of whether you're at work or on business in another town!

G4S Wins Lone Worker Contract With Norcare

G4S Monitoring & Response (‘G4S’), part of G4S Secure Solutions (UK), has been awarded a contract to provide a ‘Lone Worker Protection Service’ to Norcare, a charity providing support and accommodation to the socially and economically excluded.

The 12 month contract is effective immediately and will see G4S provide and manage 77 lone worker devices belonging to Norcare employees and volunteers.

After an assessment of its previous lone worker policy, Norcare felt it did not provide suitable protection for its employees, who often operate alone and in vulnerable situations. To remedy this, the charity has partnered with G4S to provide a fully managed bespoke service that offers improved safety for its workforce.

Due to the high risk environments some of Norcare employees operate within, G4S has supplied a welfare checking service in addition to the manual alarm system.  Employees receive an automated, regular discreet communication, to which they must respond, informing G4S’ Alarm Monitoring Centre that they are safe and secure, otherwise an alert is issued.

G4S provides Norcare with a thorough audit trail which ensures it is acting as a responsible employer, but also enables Norcare to increase employee productivity by planning workloads more effectively.

G4S will also provide a local Patrol & Response Service and will deploy resources to assist Norcare employees as a result of alarm activation if required.

Keith Box, Performance and Needs Analysis Manager, Norcare commented: “G4S was able to provide a comprehensive and modern lone worker solution which included training, monitoring, and an efficient response facility.  In addition to providing a mandatory audit trail, the solution offers peace of mind to our workforce as they are going about their daily routines.”

Mark Wakeford, Managing Director Monitoring and Response, G4S added: “Norcare has employees working in a diverse range of roles with differing requirements. Our bespoke solution will provide the lone workforce with the reassurance and protection they require, and give the organisation the safety net of having an audit trail that proves that it is proactively looking after the safety of its employees.”

Sonim XP3 Sentinel offering maximum security and safety to lone workrs in high risk and extremee environments

In the UK, it is estimated that 6.8 million people are employed in lone worker roles and yet few of those workers experience the same level of protection as other staff in supervised team environments.

Sonim and SafeLinQ UK have announced a partnership that has life-saving potential for the thousands of workers in high risk and extreme environments. Together, the companies will deliver the Sonim XP3 Sentinel ultra-rugged GSM phone to the UK market, offering maximum security and safety to lone workers.

The Sonim XP3 Sentinel was built to meet the demands of the newly-issued British Standard BS8484 device requirement for Lone Worker Devices and Monitoring Stations, exceeding the duty-of-care requirements under UK Law, further reinforced in 2008 with the passage of the Corporate Manslaughter Act.

The Sonim XP3 Sentinel goes beyond extreme durability - it’s fully water submersible (IP-67 rated), MIL-810G certified, ready for extreme temperatures from -20ºC to +55ºC , impact proof , resistant to dust and micro-particles and equipped with high performance GPS, long battery life, a LED torch and a 2MP camera. Moreover, Sonim phones are backed by Sonim’s industry-leading 3-Year Comprehensive Warranty. The phone and full lone monitoring service is available now through SafeLinQ and their partners. Pricing varies with both the network operator plan and the lone worker monitoring plan selected.

SafeLinQ works with organisations across a range of industries including security, oil and gas and transport, developing lone worker safety solutions that ensure they receive the same duty of care as those who work in more conventional industries.

The Sonim XP3 Sentinel is ideal for use in markets where lone workers operate, such as:

• Security: Security officers are at risk of criminal encounters during their remote security rounds. They need a rugged life line with the Emergency Response Centre to keep them safe. The XP3 Sentinel’s red alarm button and integrated man-down sensor detects impact, tilt, free fall and non-movement and pro-actively sends an alarm signal to the Emergency Response Centre for fast response in case of danger. The phone also has an amber button to activate advanced monitoring when going into a hazardous area, and a green button to indicate the beginning or end of a working shift.

• Construction, Oil, Gas and Utilities: Workers in harsh and potentially dangerous conditions need an ultra-rugged device that connects them to the Emergency Response Centre. By using the Sonim XP3 Sentinel, the monitoring centre will know the workers location and can respond to them immediately – no matter where they are.

One such customer that benefitted from SafeLinQ’s lone worker solutions is Skanska, one of the world’s leading construction groups. Paul Thompson, Senior Health and Safety Manager at Skanska said: “We are pleased with SafeLinQ and the solution that they have created. We are now able to provide a reliable and efficient means of supporting our lone workers, giving them peace of mind and us the ability to secure their safety, which is part of our duty of care and responsibility as an employer. We would recommend other businesses with lone workers to use SafeLinQ.”

Health And Safety At Work

Not many would be aware of this, but the authorities have legislation for the health and security of people at work. The Well being and Security at Work and so on Act 1974 requires the employers to have correct well being and safety administration systems at work. The Act makes provision for securing the health of individuals at work, welfare and safety of the workers. Including the people who are linked to the company like contractors and visitors.

Whereas the regulation exists and it is necessary for the employers to follow the guidelines, it’s also needed for the employees to know about their rights and duties regarding their very own well being & safety. Employers should conduct a General Threat Assessment to ensure the health and security of their employees.

To create awareness about health & safety at work, the employers should have full worker induction with well being and security training packages. The induction program should educate the staff about the safety requirements, procedures and insurance policies of the company.

The fundamentals of health and security at work begin with having correct First Aid. Each organization, large or small, must have proper First Aid Kits and systems. While at work, employees may suffer an injury or fall ill. It is essential for the company to have proper arrangements in order that the staff can receive rapid medical attention. A person who has obtained correct coaching for administering First Aid at Work needs to be appointed for this.

Fireplace security is of prime importance at work. The potential hazards and sources of fuel, oxygen & ignition and many others should be identified. Proper Hearth detection and warning techniques ought to be in place to prevent any mishaps. Hearth extinguishers should be kept prepared elsewhere throughout the building. There needs to be exit doorways and escape routes within the building. Electrical equipments and wiring must be correct and checked at common intervals. The employees must be given coaching on dealing with hearth emergencies. Hearth drill and Fire Danger Assessment ought to be finished at common intervals.

Stress at work place is common. But when it begins affecting the health of the worker then it is a problem. Employers ought to identify the factors inflicting extreme stress to the employees. A stress risk evaluation should be accomplished to determine the potential hazards and risks. Correct measures ought to be adopted to control extreme employee stress. Staff ought to be given proper coaching, support and care to assist them forestall & relieve the stress.

Employers should follow the norms of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Well being Regulations. They should assess the well being risks confronted by the staff from the chemical compounds or substances used at workplace. Proper control measures should be adopted and the identical ought to be followed by the employees. Training and information about the well being dangers needs to be offered to the employees.

The employers are also required to have proper policies for disability well being & safety. Staff with cognitive, bodily, sensory, ambulant and different disabilities have a proper to proper preparations and amenities at the workplace. There needs to be correct entry, lighting, signage, seating arrangements for the disabled. Different employees of the corporate also needs to be sensitized in regards to the same.

New and expectant mothers have a right to proper care on the workplace. The employers should establish the potential hazards to the mother in addition to the child whereas at work. The employers can supply alternative work, different or less work timings or paid go away to ensure the well being and safety of the mother and baby. Similarly, arrangements ought to be made for young individuals at work and lone workers. A general threat assessment needs to be done for the safety, health and security of such employees.

It will be important that the employer as well as the worker is conscious of the rights and duties pertaining to health and security at workplace. For details you possibly can take the providers of a well being and safety consultant or just seek for “well being and safety at work” on any major search engine.

Telecare essential to 're-enablement'

The government has highlighted the importance of using telehealth to help reform social care and provide more control to individuals and their carers.

In its new blueprint on social care, published today, the government says the technology can help provide more personalised and preventative services.

Earlier this year, as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review, the coalition allocated an additional £2billion by 2014/15 to support the delivery of social care. This included £1 billion through the NHS to be spent on measures that support social care but also benefit health.

‘A Vision for Adult Social Care: Capable Communities and Active Citizens’ sheds further light on how the £1 billion is to be taken out of the NHS budget and spent on adult social care.

It says that up to £300m a year will be spent on what it terms ‘re-ablement’ spending in the NHS, while the remainder will support either social care service.

The document states: “Using this money to find new and innovative ways to deliver social care, maintain quality and work in a more integrated way with the NHS is essential.”

It says that self evaluations from three councils indicate that adult social care departments could save at least 1.5% per year of their home a residential care spend by introducing integrated telecare and refers to North Yorkshire Council which has embedded telecare service into its social care provision an is already saving more than £1m per year.

It adds: “Assisted living is one of most promising developments for ensuring the ageing populations continues to be well served with high quality and affordable health and care services.

“Telecare enables people to live at home independently for longer by providing technologies that make their homes more safe and secure.”

However, it calls for more “robust evidence” on how to target telecare and telehealth to ensure both cost effectiveness and successful outcomes and hopes that the evaluation of the government’s £31m whole system demonstrator programme will start to address this.

As part of its vision, which is underpinned by seven principles including prevention, personalisation, partnership, plurality, protection, productivity, people, the government recommends that councils should improve preventative services by “commissioning a full range of appropriate preventative and early intervention services such as re-ablement and telecare, working in partnership with the NHS housing authorities and others.”

The report also elaborates on themes of the The NHS white paper, ‘Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS’ which called for more joint working with social services, while giving new roles to local authorities to promote public health.

It says: “Evidence suggests that joint strategies, including a focus on reducing hospitals admissions, save resources in the NHS.”

It exemplifies Herefordshire Hospital Trust, PCT and Council who have already established a public sector joint venture to carry out shared back office services across local government and health and are already seeing considerable benefits.

Last week, the joint IT director for NHS Hertfordshire and Council told E-Health Insider that the decision to combine the IT services had already saved more than 10% of its overall budget, with a further 10% expected to come next year.

In addition, the document places significant focus on personal budgets and says it will provide up to one million adults in need of social care with personal budgets to spend on the services they think they need by 2013. This is 75% increase on the amount of people that currently receive such payments.

However, it says that “good quality, up to date and accessible information direct from the council especially on websites” needs to be provided to ensure that people have good information and real choice.

GPS Tracking Devices With SOS Function Explained

GPS tracking devices are this century's way of finding out where someone or something is. Rather than checking an old map, these fascinating small devices can provide you with detailed coordinates no matter where they are, thanks to the signals that they pick up from the giant network of GPS satellites surrounding the Earth.

GPS tracking devices are popular with Lone Workers, youngsters and carers around the globe as they supply what's in effect a second set of eyes. When considering the people above who are looking after children or the old, they don't need to follow these susceptible groups like spies, however there are several reasons that explain why they would like to know where they are and have contact with them.

Youngsters are at risk of kidnapping, accidents and simply wandering off ; while the old are in a similar way susceptible to accidents, sickness and robbery.

Many family members and carers can't be there twenty-four hours per day to look after these folk as they may have their own families or other commitments like a job, so how to keep confidence that these groups are alright?

GPS tracking devices with an SOS button are the perfect solution here. Everybody knows that GPS tracking devices can supply their position, but those with an SOS button utilise a SIM card and the telephone network to permit the holder to send an emergency text message including the coordinates at that time to one or two key telephone numbers ( like parents or a nurse ).

GPS tracking devices with SOS button work as a type of basic phone. You may not be in a position to call them, nor they you ; but they can connect to the network to send an emergency SOS message. This is as they've a GSM SIM card inside and keep connected to the phone network like a mobile phone. Simply put , in an emergency, push the massive red button* and then the tracker will send for help. * ( The button might or might not be red ).

Almost everybody has cell telephones these days, so you might question why this SOS function would even be necessary, however the rate of uptake of mobile telephones between the aged and children is among the lowest. The former as traditionally elderly folks are not very enthusiastic about mobile phones and the second because many mums and dads do not like their youngsters to have a cell telephone.

If that's the case then how can these people talk to us in an emergency?

GPS tracking devices with SOS buttons kill two birds with 1 stone, allowing worried family members to know where their loved-one is, and additionally to know that they can be reached in an emergency.

Youngsters and the aged can also take to these GPS tracking devices well as they are miniscule, keyfob-sized devices that are neither intrusive nor tough to use. All you need to do is turn them on and set up the relevant emergency contact's number to receive the SOS message (customarily simply a case of sending the device a message with the emergency contact number) and you are good to go. The user just should be ready to push the button.

If you have elderly relatives or children, then GPS tracking devices with SOS buttons are a great choice when it comes round to keeping them safe and getting peace of mind for yourself. Financially they are much cheaper than a mobile phone and come without the risks of high bills or inappropriate use.

Welsh telehealth pilots save £2.2m

Three demonstrator projects in Wales testing new ways of managing chronic conditions including use of predictive risk software and telehealth have reported NHS savings of at least £2.2 million in the last year.

The Chronic Conditions Management demonstrator sites in Carmarthenshire, Cardiff and Gwynedd have published a report on the second year of their three year project showing improving patient care, reduced emergency admissions and NHS savings.

All three sites are also using the Welsh predictive risk tool PRISM to identify high risk patients, improved joined up working and inform priorities for community based services.

The projects in Carmarthenshire and Gwynedd are also running a randomised controlled trial which began in 2009 to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing telehealth and telecare for patients with chronic conditions including COPD, heart failure, diabetes.

Other projects run by the demonstrators in the wide ranging programme include moving clinics out of hospital and into the community, greater multidisciplinary working and integrated health and social care work, the introduction of a virtual clinic which involves consultants visiting GPs to review referrals and the trialling of an e-mail consultation service between GPs and consultants.

The second year report shows a total fall in bed days across the three demonstrator sites between 2008 and 2009 of 27% for Carmarthenshire, 26% for Cardiff and 16.5% for Gwynedd.

There was also a 10.8% reduction over two years in the number of emergency medical admissions for chronic conditions which NHS Wales has estimated saved a total of £2.4m for the health service.

Welsh health minister Edwina Hart said the rest of the NHS could learn from the pilot sites so that further improvements could be made across Wales.

She added: “This report shows how by providing more support and care for people with chronic conditions in the community we are reducing pressure on hospital services.

“This is not only improving the health and quality of life of patients but savings resources and money for the NHS.”

The demonstrator projects are due to run until March 2011.

London Telecare Group and Cirrus Roundtable: The Future of Telecare

On 27 October 2010 participants from Camden Council, Westminster City Council, London Borough of Ealing Council and North Hertfordshire Borough Council attended a round table following 'The Future of Telecare' seminar held in July at Vinopolis by The London Telecare Group and Cirrus.

The round table, held at the Enterprise Rooms, Victoria was set up to continue the debate and discussion surrounding the impact on the Telecare marketplace of Next Generation Networks. The working group made some extremely useful points about the future of telecare and had valuable insights into what the market needs from an operational point of view and the financial challenges they now face, following the Comprehensive Spending Review held on 20th October 2010.

Carl Atkey Head of CarelineUK and Technical lead for Cirrus comments: “Suppliers need to get closer to their end organisations to fully understand the challenges they face from a economic perspective - as well as how current and future technology and services can help shape the care they provide. These forums will help us achieve this.”

The London councils of Westminster, Camden, Ealing and North Herts between them cover a significant number of connections in London and the SE. Indications that Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham are to create a new ‘Super Council’ could lead to more centralised service provision in the future.

The London Telecare forums provide an opportunity to discuss ideas and challenges, and the outputs can act as a catalyst for debate across the organisation to enable closer thinking across the different stakeholders and departments.

The discussion covered:

• What equipment should commissioners and procurement bodies buy in order to meet the needs of today’s customers and not be out of date in the near future?

• Why is basic emergency alarm equipment so expensive? Surely a basic response kit could be produced more cheaply?

• The future market is going mobile – so will less demand for hard-wire based systems cause compatibility problems?

• Should service providers own the kit or buy into a complete, managed monitored service?

• Confusion of the relevance of ‘Class 1’ standard for individual emergency alarms

• Telecare Control Centres face real opportunities for growth by mergers, but call handling and responding with local knowledge is often preferred to remote call handling.

• The new NVQ for call handlers should improve training standards.

• Individuals should be at the centre of care and Department of Health, local authorities and social care should have a joined up view of the individual.

• Councils seeking to reduce capital expenditure could drive a greater reliance on outsourcing the delivery of telecare and telehealth services.

• Local authorities may become less involved in the decision making process as GPs become more involved in commissioning health budgets.

John Chambers, London Telecare Group, commented: “Our thanks go to Cirrus for hosting this workshop which proved to be highly insightful. A more comprehensive report will be circulated by Cirrus and London Telecare in due course.”

O2 Health deploys telehealth and telecare services; signs three deals

Having only launched its health division in July, O2 has announced the first rollout of its telehealth and telecare services across three UK National Health Service (NHS) organisations.

The company said that the three NHS authorities would become part of O2's Centre of Excellence programme focused on developing new and innovative healthcare systems. The agreement will see the three authorities providing clinical resources and health expertise to help develop new care packages, and then pilot these to create regional centres.

According to O2 Health head, Keith Nurcombe, the company plans, over the coming years, to invest significantly in UK health innovation, including the use of technology other than just being focused on mobile.

"The Centre of Excellence programme is an industry first--it gives us a great opportunity to learn directly from clinical teams." said Nurcombe. "We also plan to expand the programme over the next few years to other like-minded health organisations."

When O2 launched its m-health concept, the company said that it would look for partnerships with healthcare providers to gain a better understanding of the challenges involved before deploying solutions that created benefits for patients and health workers.

The three UK NHS organisations involved are NHS Western Isles, Berkshire East Community Health Services and NHS Rotherham.

The new enhanced role for councils in care and health

Last week’s national children’s and adult services conference saw health secretary, Andrew Lansley, outline an enhanced role for local government in care and public health, reports Michael Burton.

Not only was last week’s annual children’s and adult services event a sell-out, but it was also graced by a full turn-out of secretaries of state, ministers and shadow ministers from the two departments of education and health.

Education secretary Michael Gove’s speech in its exhortation for more academies and free schools opting out of their education authorities was not entirely welcome news to the predominantly local government audience.

But health secretary Andrew Lansley’s speech was another matter altogether.

For a department which has been historically the least proactive in wanting to work with local government, his content was about as pro-councils as he could manage without handing the NHS over to town and county halls altogether.

In fact, he revealed to the audience that five years ago, he had indeed had discussions with Tory London borough leaders about the feasibility of transferring the NHS to council control, but decided against it. After all, he told delegates, would councillors really want to make decisions over whether to spend money on a leisure centre or cancer treatment?

He continued: ‘If local government was responsible for health, it would dominate every decision taken by the council. It’s not the job of politicians to decide clinical priorities, but to be involved in strategy.’

Local government’s role according to the coalition’s health agenda is three-fold.

First, it needs to help reduce costs to the NHS of treating old people by devoting council care resources to helping them be independent at home.

Second, councils have a new key role in the public health agenda outlined in last summer’s health White Paper, with directors of public health coming primarily from a non-medical background. And third, although Mr Lansley did not touch on this in his speech, councils could provide back-office services, such as HR, payroll, accommodation and auditing to the new GP consortia, when they are up and running.

Much of his speech was devoted to the care agenda, in particular, the extra £2bn promised in the CSR for adult care. Mr Lansley said this had exercised the minds not just of his department but the ‘Treasury, Number 10 and the deputy PM’, not surprising, bearing in mind that councils were bearing the brunt of spending cuts and the temptation would be for them to cut back on their care costs.

He recalled: ‘It was a real concern, and we feared there would be a rise in emergency admissions to hospitals.’

As a result, ministers had agreed to find an extra £2bn divided between councils and the NHS. Mr Lansley told a press conference after his speech that this was deliberately front-loaded, with £800m earmarked for the next financial year, to offset the front-loaded cuts to council funding announced by the CLG in the Spending Review.

He emphasised that the two sectors would be expected to work in tandem, saying: ‘Health and social care must be complementary, not conflicting. Cost-sharing, not cost-shunting. We are locking health and social care together in the funding mechanism.’

The health secretary gave more details about the funding and more help for the NHS to put in place post-hospital care, or re-ablement services for people needing help regaining their independence after a spell in hospital. The NHS will be given an extra £150m in 2011/12 for re-ablement services, and £300m a year from 2012/13, part of the extra CSR social care cash. And a ‘toolkit’ has been launched that will help councils to work with the NHS on re-ablement.

Later, the chairman of the LGA’s community wellbeing board, Cllr David Rogers, said: ‘Mr Lansley’s explanation of how the extra £1bn from the NHS is going to be spent helps provide the much-needed clarity we have been calling for. There was concern about how PCTs would work with councils, and it’s reassuring to hear the Government is as committed as we are to making sure this money goes to the people who need it most.’

The health secretary also stressed that prevention, use of technology and personalised budgets would all help keep the elderly independent and in their homes, rather than ending up in hospital as a cost to the NHS.

As he said: ‘Falls alone cost £1bn a year and one-third of people with dementia who go into hospital never come home again.’

He singled out his visit to North Yorkshire CC, which has introduced a telecare service which monitors the elderly and has saved £1m by helping elderly people remain in their own homes with support. He added: ‘North Yorkshire CC told me specifically about falls where, every hour spent on the floor equalled one day in hospital, and how its approach to using technology saved more than £1m and reduced care package costs by one-third.’

North Yorkshire CC’s corporate director of adult and community services, Derek Law, later commented on the speech by saying he was ‘frustrated by the lack of progress in other parts of the country’, and added: ‘I can’t understand why other councils aren’t achieving the results that we have achieved.

‘Telecare ticks many boxes. For the person using the technology, it provides choice, dignity, empowerment and independence. For the carer or family member, it offers reassurance and peace of mind, 24 hours a day. And for us it offers cost-effective, person-centred care.

‘For the health service, it enables earlier discharge, reductions in hospital admissions and a more joined-up service with social care.’

Mr Lansley also devoted part of his address to highlight the local authority role in public health. As he said: ‘The principal determinant of the health of a population is socio-economic, and that’s not down to the NHS, but is the responsibility of local government.’

The heath White Paper envisages new public health directives being in place by 2013. Mr Lansley added ‘There won’t be, necessarily, medical people. We want to rebuild the public health profession.’

Cllr Rogers later responded: ‘It was encouraging to hear the health minister acknowledge councils as being at the heart of public health. This has been the core business of local government since its foundations. Closer working with the NHS will help build on our successes.’

Mr Lansley also announced a network of early trail-blazers, a ‘collection of pioneering authorities to show how health and wellbeing boards could work in future’, will be set up.

Nitrogen knocks out lone worker inside machine

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a Black Country recycling firm after nitrogen gas, used to stop explosions, made a lone worker pass out.

Halesowen Magistrates Court heard that it was usual for workers at Overton Recycling to climb into the chute of a fridge recycling machine at the company's site in Rufford Street, Lye.

On 1 June 2009, Stephen Barnes, 47, from Birmingham, was working on the machine used to recycle fridges. A chute fed the fridges inside the machine to be broken up, but as they have the potential to explode, the machine contained nitrogen gas to help reduce the risk of a blast.

Sometimes the fridges would twist and get stuck and it was usual for workers to climb in to clear the blockages. When Mr Barnes did this on the day of the incident, the nitrogen inside the chute made him pass out so he had to be rescued by a colleague.

He was taken to hospital and was off work for three days and although he made a full physical recovery, he has since suffered from a lack of sleep, flashbacks and mood swings that are only now subsiding.

An HSE inspection found the presence of the nitrogen in the chute had not been assessed before people got inside to clear blockages. The company had also failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment that would have identified the risks of climbing into a confined space. The company should also have had a system in place for clearing blockages that did not require entry in to the chute.

HSE inspector Angela Gallagher said:

"Companies need to ensure all machinery and processes are properly assessed. Had this been done, the nitrogen would have been identified as a hazard and the chute recognised as a confined space with the right safety systems installed.

"All too often in cases like this we see multiple fatalities as people try to rescue a colleague from a confined space without taking precautions themselves. It is fortunate that no one was more seriously harmed on this occasion."

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1) of the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 and Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and was fined £13,000 and ordered to pay £6,107 costs.

Telecare Gadgets Are Helping Elderly At Home, While Potentially Saving £270 Million For Local Authorities

Kent County Council's two year pilot programme on testing effectiveness of gadgets targeting heart and lung conditions and diabetes among older people living alone have delivered savings of £7.5 million each year while providing extra years of priceless independence and dignity for users.

If similar telecare services are rolled out across England and Wales, local authorities could save upto £270 Million according to the Local Government Association (LGA).  After several years piloting new technologies, town halls are now rolling out schemes in full and reaping huge savings - from the electronic pill dispenser which saves thousands of pounds a year to the personal satellite locator which reduces day care costs by £250 a week.

"Investing in technology like this has been proven to reduce the need for hospital admission, GP referral, home help, day care and residential care," Cllr David Rogers, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said before adding, "this saves taxpayers’ money in the long term at a time when the demand for adult care is rising and funding is falling".

"New technology helps deliver round-the-clock support to users, allowing them to manage their own health budgets, ensuring timely and preventative care, and peace of mind for them and their loved ones," he added.

The Kent County Council pilot project was the largest of its kind in Europe where the County council worked with health trusts to deliver the services to pensioners. vast savings were made through reduced hospital admissions, accident and emergency, bed days of care, home visits and GP contact. When the reduced costs were expanded across all areas of health, it estimated an annual saving of £7.5 million.

North Yorkshire County Council has saved more than £1 Million on residential care by providing telecare services to 12,000 users.

Blackpool Council’s Vitaline service is one the country’s most advanced 24-hour telehealth monitoring and response centres and provides care, reassurance and protection to thousands of residents. This has reduced hospital admissions by 75% and GP contact by 85%.

Cllr Rogers added:

“Councils have been the trailblazers with telecare and telehealth and the whole of society is now reaping the benefits. But this is only part of the solution. Also essential if we’re to manage our ageing population is improved public health, leisure and transport schemes, and more adaptable housing. And what will never happen if technology is being seen as a replacement for human contact, nothing is more vital to keep older people independent and happy.”

O2 Health ink first NHS deals

O2 Health has announced it is roll out its telehealth and telecare services across three NHS organisations.

The company, which entered the market in July and is part of the Telefonica Group, will deliver pilot programmes to NHS Western Isles, Berkshire East Community Health Services, and NHS Rotherham in an effort to “focus on developing new and innovative healthcare systems”.

Keith Nurcombe, head of O2 Health, said the NHS departments had “all shown a real appetite to embrace innovation to drive better patient experiences”.

“The programme is an industry first – it gives us a great opportunity to learn directly from clinical teams,” claimed Nurcombe. “We plan to expand the programme over the next few years to other like-minded health organisations.”

Union anger as care wardens for the elderly face job cuts (Yorkshire Post)

A TRADE union has attacked East Riding Council's plans to sack mobile care wardens. The GMB union is protesting after the authority stopped the regular visits made by wardens to the homes of 13,000 vulnerable and elderly people to check their "Telecare" equipment is working.

East Riding Council says the equipment can be remotely tested, and those who feel they are missing out on a visit will be able to sign up to a "befriending" service instead.

There will be job losses, but the authority will not know how many until a review has been carried out. However, the GMB has lodged a grievance with the council, saying there has been no consultation.

Regional organiser Rachelle Wilkins said "The proposals reek of David Cameron's Big Society plans of using volunteers at the expense of cutting decent, caring working class people's jobs.

"Wardens believe that the reduction in the service will have a massive detrimental effect on the vulnerable and elderly service users within the community and will also put a further strain on emergency services that are already overstretched to the limit.

"Not only did East Riding Council fail to consult with the GMB, but they have already removed the wardens from community schemes and stopped
all visits."

However East Riding Council said only monthly maintenance visits would be affected. A spokeswoman said: "This is not about cuts. It's about advances in technology."

A statement added: "We are aware that some people will miss the social contact aspect of someone coming to check the equipment and we will be offering them the opportunity to be referred to Age UK or other befriending service providers when we visit current customers to discuss whether they wish to remain on their current service level or wish to take advantage of one of the two new services available."

The situation for people in sheltered accommodation and those in Bridlington who get weekly visits will not change.

However campaigner Mick Pilling has collected around 300 names on a petition against the cuts.

He said: "If the wardens service ceases we will be going backwards rather than forwards."

Firms Warned After 23 Workplace Deaths

Businesses in Scotland have been warned to take safety seriously after figures showed 23 people were killed last year at work.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said there were three fewer fatal injuries in Scotland between April 2009 and March 2010 than the previous year, but remained concerned about the number of workplace accidents.

There were 2548 serious workplace injuries in Scotland recorded last year, a fall of 120 from the previous year. An estimated 2.5 million working days were lost – an average annual loss of 1.2 days per worker.

The estimated number of Scots suffering from work-related illnesses also fell by 7000 from 104,000 in 2008/09 to 97,000 last year, and the number of people killed at work across Britain fell to the lowest on record.

Paul Stollard, the HSE’s regional director for Scotland, said: “Again this is a step in the right direction. However, these figures show that there are still numerous cases where the health and safety of workers is not being taken seriously.

“Employers have a legal duty to protect their employees. Health and safety needs to be at the very heart of the business and not seen as an add-on, tick-box exercise at best or an unnecessary burden at worst.”

The HSE figures show that across Scotland, England and Wales there were 152 workplace deaths last year, down from 179 the previous year, a rate of 1 death per 200,000 workers.

Health And Safety At Work

Not many would be aware of this, but the government has laws for well being and safety forpeople at work. The Well being and Safety at Work and so forth Act 1974 requires that employers have correct health and security management techniques at work. The Act makes provision for securing the health of individuals at work, welfare and security of the workers including the people who are in a roundabout way employed by the company like contractors and visitors.

Whereas the law exists and it’s obligatory for the employers to comply with the rules, it is also vital for the workers to find out about their rights and duties relating to their own well being and safety. Employers should conduct a General Risk Evaluation to ensure the health and security of their employees.

To create awareness about health and safety at work, the employers should have proper worker induction and well being and safety coaching programs at any time when new employees join a company. The induction program should educate the employees about the security requirements and procedures, and insurance policies of the company.

The fundamentals of health and safety at work begin with having correct First Aid. Each organisation huge or small should have correct First Assist Kits and systems. While at work, individuals can undergo an injury or fall ill. It is extremely necessary for the company to have correct preparations in order that the workers can obtain instant medical attention. A person who has received correct coaching for administering First Support should be appointed for this.

Fire safety is of prime significance at work. The potential hazards and sources of gas, oxygen and ignition should be identified. Correct Heat detection and warning systems ought to be in place to forestall any mishaps. Fire extinguishers must be kept ready in different places all through the building. There ought to be exit doorways and escape routes out of the building. Electrical equipment and wiring ought to be correct and checked at frequent intervals. The employees ought to be given training on coping with fire emergencies. Fire drill and Risk Assessment should be completed regularly.

Stress in the work place is common, but when it begins affecting the well being of the worker; then it is a problem. Employers should establish the components causing excessive stress to the employees. A stress threat assessment ought to be carried out to identify the potential hazards and risks. Correct measures must be adopted to regulate extreme employee stress. Employees must be given proper coaching, assist and care to assist them and relieve the stress.

Employers ought to follow the norms of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations. They need to assess the health risks confronted by the workers from the chemical substances or substances used in the workplace. Correct management measures should be adopted and the identical needs to be adopted by the employees. Training and details about the health risks need to be supplied to the employees.

The employers are additionally required to have correct insurance policies for incapacity, well being and safety. Workers with cognitive, physical, sensory, ambulant and different disabilities have a right to correct arrangements and services in the workplace. There must be correct access, lighting, signage, seating preparations for the disabled. Different workers of the company also needs to be sensitized about the same.

New and expectant moms have to have to correct care inthe workplace. The employers should establish the potential hazards to the mother, as well as the newborn while at work. The employers can provide alternative work, different or much less work timings or paid leave to ensure the well being and security of the mother and baby. Equally, preparations ought to be made for young individuals at work and lone workers. A common risk evaluation needs to be performed for the security, well being and security of such employees.

It will be important that the employer in addition to the worker is conscious of the rights and duties pertaining to health and safety at workplace. For particulars you may take the companies of a well being and safety consultant or simply seek for “health and safety at work” on any major search engine.

Telehealth and Telecare

Current models of healthcare are becoming unsustainable all over the world, due to people living longer with chronic diseases, and new costly technologies being developed. The number of people needing care is set to quadruple by 2050, placing extreme demands in terms of costs and provision of care workers.

In Scotland, the government have estimated that if the current requirements for health services are extrapolated to meet this demand, they will need to open a new 300-bed hospital every three years, and by 2050 all school leavers would be needed by the caring professions.

The choices seem stark - pay more, cut back to a bare bones service, or find an alternative. For some time UK health policy has been moving towards better prevention.
Early results from telehealth are promising

Telehealth uses technology to empower people to manage their own health and wellness. It encompasses a wide range of services ranging from text messaging and telephone-based coaching through to remote monitoring of vital signs. The technologies range from simple devices that people with only the most basic IT skills can use, right up to highly interactive services linking wireless medical devices to applications on smart phones.

Most systems are built around the need to collect and transmit data from patients, but they could encourage patients to adopt self-care regimes, including better adherence to medications.

Telehealth could help to prevent conditions with high care requirements. Until recently, prevention was the domain of public health, and divorced from mainstream health delivery, but it is now becoming a major driver for the way all healthcare is provided. The US Veterans’ Administration recently reported some remarkable results from their large-scale implementation of telehealth - including a 25% reduction in bed-days of hospital care.

Continua Health Alliance is a non-profit, open industry coalition of healthcare and technology companies which aims to promote telehealth.  First formed in 2006, the coalition brings together technology, healthcare provider, pharma, consultants (including PA Consulting) and academic organisations to work with governments and standards organisations to create a sustainable technical environment for these services.

So what is stopping a wider adoption of telehealth? Some of the obstacles are common barriers in healthcare, such as a paucity of high-quality evidence, limited knowledge (and therefore acceptance) by the professions, and dysfunctional reward systems that pay for work done rather than outcomes achieved.

There are also real concerns around privacy and security for medical information. Other issues are more pertinent to the telehealth arena.

There are concerns about the scalability of current technologies, particularly around the lack of interoperability and integration with core health IT systems. These limitations restrict the scope of services to very specific audiences, creating issues of inequity. The small size of the current market means that the available solutions are often expensive, forcing a focus on patient groups that incur the highest immediate costs at the expense of earlier prevention.
Realising the potential of telehealth

Healthcare providers will have to take a pragmatic approach to implementation, building capability and capacity in order to meet the wider expectations for health system reform.

This will require:

• A vision that sets the development agenda, clearly identifying the benefits and priorities

• Laying the foundations for scalable services within the limitation of current technology

• Expanding accessibility by working collabora-tively to shape technology enhancements.
Setting the agenda for development

Understanding the clinical and economic drivers behind healthcare needs is vital. This requires populations to be carefully segmented to identify priority targets and use this to select the most appropriate technology platform.

Telehealth services span two potential target groups at two extremes of the spectrum. The first group are those who are likely to experience an expensive care episode in the near future. This model focuses on short term savings from avoidable hospital stays, investigations and urgent treatments. Typically, this involves complex cases in the advanced stages of a chronic disease. The majority of patients are in the over-75 age bracket, which means their ability to use technology is a major issue.

The second scenario is to provide early intervention to help patients improve their lifestyle. In this model, the target population is larger, and typically represents a much younger and active demographic who are more likely adopters of new technology.

The main return from this investment will be seen only in the long term, potentially decades away, and this presents difficulties for investors faced with more immediate priorities. It also poses questions about sustainability as there is a paucity of evidence of the long term outcomes.

Deploying effective solutions requires a clear vision for who needs to be targeted, how their needs can best be met by technology and a sense of timing to reach out to people when they are likely to be most receptive to a change.

Some clinicians are torn between the value telehealth delivers to a patient and the distraction and load it places on the medical profession. This is typically a symptom of small operations where size prevents consideration of a broader service redesign that could achieve economies of scale.
Telehealth places a new and significant workload into the clinical domain

Experience from the UK suggests that a large proportion of activity is low level, such as firstline investigation of missing or anomalous results. Automation of some tasks, and filtering others using less costly resources, would address the low ratio of patients to clinicians evident in smaller operations. Investing in larger deployments is critical to achieving scale economies and ensuring telehealth services reach their true potential.

Risk stratification tools for identifying suitable patients are becoming increasingly more accurate, but this means complex information needs to be pulled in from disparate sources.

It is no coincidence that many of the early telehealth adopters, such as the Veterans’ Administration, are organisations that use information from electronic patient records to identify and manage their patients.

Without such tools there is an increased risk of wasting resources on people who are unlikely to benefit.
Work within limits of current technologies

Initial investments typically focus on areas where there is confidence of a return. The greatest potential appears to lie somewhere in the middle of the patient risk spectrum, where a relatively large number of people may become the more complex cases of tomorrow, and thus offer a relatively fast return on investment.

However, this group is also likely to have very different technology preferences to higher risk groups, typically needing services that fit with a more active lifestyle.

The largely proprietary nature of current technologies forces a choice, or leaves the provider with significant overheads from managing multiple remote monitoring systems. The future holds the possibility of more flexible monitoring platforms, able to service a range of channels, supporting ‘mHealth’ solutions.

Reaching out to people when they are most receptive to change requires careful integration with wider clinical pathways, so that opportunities to engage patients are not wasted. Many early trials have failed to be adopted into a mainstream service because they are seen as a ‘bolt-on extra’ rather than a comprehensive transformation of the care system.

Building clinical leadership around a shared vision is vital to bring about change, and appropriate incentives will be needed for widespread adoption among clinicians.

Fragmentation of healthcare systems significantly slows adoption. Ultimately, it requires system-wide reforms to adjust for the fact that the party that pays is often not one that gains. In the meantime, adoption will centre on payer-provider systems, such as the NHS as well as the comprehensive private systems like Partners HealthCare and Kaiser Permanente.

Building a telehealth service requires a clear vision for growth, an understanding of service maturity to drive improvements and a commercial strategy for moving beyond the limitations of current technology platforms.

Expanding telehealth use in stages is likely to be a realistic approach, with trials in certain conditions or demographic groups being tested first. This will help demonstrate the limits of existing technology investments, and where whole new capabilities would be required.

Innovation will open up new opportunities but will often be constrained by the legacy of earlier technology choices. Organisations investing in telehealth should seek to carry their vision forward into commercial arrangements, ensuring that suppliers remain incentivised to continue to develop solutions. Often the scale of investment required will mean collective purchasing at a regional or national level will be required.

The telehealth vision should also provide the commercial foundations for growth, particularly in building more flexible solutions and fixing a commitment for the incorporation of standards for interoperability as they become available. This will allow operators to be freed from proprietary constraints to provide the sort of integrated services needed to deliver at scale.
Collaboration shapes technology enhancements

New technical and professional standards need to be created in order to open access and enable services to work across organisational boundaries. Governments have to help steer this process in order to provide the scale of customer demand to justify industry investment.

Technical standards that enable different technologies to work together are essential. This offers users a choice of technologies, opening the possibility of developing solutions to meet minority interests and reducing repeated development costs associated with bespoke developments.

The formation of the Continua Health Alliance and the publication of the first interoperability guidelines for personal health and wellness technologies are signs progress is being made on this front.

The writing is on the wall for those suppliers still holding out with proprietary offerings. Adoption will ultimately be supported through effective regulation and incentives, such as the criteria for ‘meaningful use’ that have been incorporated into the US investments in healthcare reform.

The groundwork has been laid for telehealth to play its part in creating sustainable healthcare services.

Delivering on this early promise will mean taking bold steps in building capability and capacity, recognising the limitations of existing technologies and laying the foundations for scalable services.
NHS PILOTS OF TELEHEALTH

The UK’s National Health Service is progressing with sophisticated pilots of telehealth  technology. Its Whole System Demonstrators (WSD) programme aims to gather primary data about the impact of telehealthcare. It is a randomised control trial, and believed to be the biggest telecare and telehealth trial in the world to date.

Three WSD sites - Kent, Cornwall and Newham - were selected in 2007, and have since been involved in detailed planning and implementation.

All three sites have recruited GP practices and participants and are now monitoring participants and gathering data for the evaluation.

Over 6,000 participants have been recruited to the programme, half in the intervention group and the other half in the control group.

The control group will receive usual care for 12 months after which they will receive either telecare or telehealth services depending on their needs.
Case study: diabetes

In east London, Newham Council and  the local PCT are working together on their WSD telehealth and telecare trial. The project is now well under-way, and its co-ordinators say participants are already experiencing the “life changing benefits”  from the new technologies.

Telehealth user Carol Hodges, 58, suffers from diabetes as well as a heart condition which means she has an irregular heartbeat and palpitations.

Carol’s blood pressure often drops very low and the concern for her and her husband is that it could happen quite rapidly with little time to recognise the symptoms.

Using telehealth since January 2009, Carol is able to take her own blood pressure, weight, pulse, blood sugar and oxygen levels each day.

The readings are taken with special equipment which is linked to a set-top box connected to her television.

The results, which Carol can view on her television, are automatically uploaded to a team of healthcare professionals who view them daily.

“Ever since having telehealth, I know what’s happening within my body. Without it I wouldn’t know that my blood pressure keeps dropping…I don’t know what I would do without it,” she said.

Close monitoring has meant that any dramatic changes in the readings of people with conditions like Carol’s, are often picked up in rapid time.

In one instance, Carol was not feeling well and thought she would take her blood pressure to check if it had dropped. It had dropped to 80, which is very low, and she was experiencing extreme shortage of breath.

“I called the nursing team and told them that I was not feeling at all well. They took a look at my readings and said that my blood pressure looked very low. Before I knew it an ambulance was here at my house…If it wasn’t for them I don’t think I’d be here today,” she said.

Tests showed Carol had  high levels of potassium in her blood and was treated and kept in hospital overnight and then discharged the next day.

Carol is now playing a much more active role in the management of her own health and is more conscious of any changes in her readings.

“It has helped me with my weight too. Weighing myself every day really encourages me to keep an eye on my health because I can see my progress. I’ve lost over two stone because it keeps me on my toes to watch what I eat.”

Source: www.newhamwsdtrial.org/telecare

Authors: George MacGinnis is a member of PA’s eHealth team and works within the NHS to develop use of personal health technologies. George is vice-chair of the Continua Health Alliance’s Use Case Working Group, leading work to establish more consumer-ready connected health services.

Henry Rivera, managing consultant, is an expert in Assistive Technologies for Social and Health Care applications, with over 20 years’ experience in the development of IT and Innovation. Over the past seven years Henry’s main focus has been on using innovation to advance the delivery of health and social care across England.

Michael Dillon has supported implementation of the UK’s largest telehealth services. He led the development of standards based information sharing solutions now being adopted across the NHS to support integrated working across services and care teams. He has played a key role in developing the next generation integrated telehealth and telecare solutions­ being proposed by one of the largest solution providers in Europe and in use by some of Europe’s largest providers of health and social care.