IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

TeHIP (The e-Health Innovation Professionals Group) published the study on 29 September 2005. It was based on the views of over 100 healthcare professionals, and sponsored by the British Computer Society Health Informatics Committee, the Department for Trade and Industry and the Department of Health.

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.

Telecare is becoming increasingly important in providing support for older and disabled people. It is being used increasingly by social services because of the part it plays in risk management. The use of a range of sensors allows people to remain in their own homes in a safe condition, well beyond what was possible in the past.

Over 17.5 million people in the UK live with a long-term condition, which places a significant strain on health and social care resources. It is estimated that 80% of GP consultations relate to a long-term condition, and that 60% of hospital bed usage is by people with a long-term condition. Their treatment and care also accounts for 69% of the primary and acute care budget in England, placing a clear economic burden on the NHS. Indeed, it is estimated that the UK economy stands to lose £16bn over the next 10 years through premature deaths due to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Telehealth can reduce demand for face-to-face services and expensive acute care but there is currently “no strategic drive for telehealth at scale” in the NHS, according to the Healthcare Without Walls report - due to be published next Wednesday by think tank 2020health.

It says: “Whilst some commissioning bodies are showing firm leadership [on telehealth]… most are citing the impending shift in power to the GP commissioning consortia as a reason for inertia.”

It also means that health professionals can keep a closer eye on patients as the results of many home health tests are instantly relayed via wireless internet to local GP surgeries and clinics.

The Welsh Assembly Government this week published its ‘Rural Health Plan’ identifies access to services and integration of services as the two key issues affecting the health of rural communities.

T he telecare LIN has created a Google map for PCT telehealth, which shows which areas have begun some form of remote monitoring programme.

The project, using equipment from Tunstall, has successfully freed up NHS resources and budget.

Any local authority or central government department with a call centre or call handling operation (and we imagine that's almost all of our readers), should read this, as it gives a good insight into public perceptions of call centres - the backbone for many an e-government set-up.

The contract has been valued at between £500,000 and £1m and is the first phase of a £2m initiative aimed at meeting targets to bring all government services online by 2005.

The tests, which looked at download speed, errors, warnings and 'very basic' metadata, revealed that the best overall website was local e-government and that central government websites tend to have more errors.

Various online techniques, including e-payments, interactive TV, and videoconferencing, are being trialled with a view to introducing them over time.

The flagship piece of the program is already up and running. With an estimated 75 percent of citizen contacts within Thanet taking place by phone, the council identified that improving the quality of phone-based services needed to be its key priority --especially as around 17 percent of calls were previously unanswered because of inadequate call handling facilities.

Thanet DC is refusing to get too carried away with online services and is instead concentrating on face to face contact with its local population as a key part of its new e-government programme.

The government is planning – once more – to make changes to its IT buying policies to help avoid expensive project failures.

As always, the devil will be in the detail, which will be revealed when head of egovernment Ian Watmore announces his new IT strategy later this month.