Pfizer partners with PCT on telephone care

Pfizer is working with a PCT to deliver telephone-based care management expects to sign up more PCTs within the next two years.

UK Pfizer Health Solutions (PHS) has been working with the Birmingham East and North East PCT since April 2006 to deliver Birmingham OwnHealth, a nurse-led telephone care management programme.

The PCT now plans to expand its programme following the results from the first year and UK PHS says it is seeing increasing interest from other NHS organisations.

John Proctor, head of UK PHS told EHI Primary Care: “In the last six months in particular we have had quite a number of enquiries with an increasing level of interest and there are other PCTs that I would expect to make additional investment in the next 12 to 24 months.”

Results from the first year of Birmingham OwnHealth found that those who took part in the scheme had improved cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure, felt more confident in their ability to self-manage their condition and reported fewer visits to their GP and fewer hospital admissions. The PCT has now announced plans to expand the scheme form 2000 patients to 27,000 patients by 2012.

Proctor said one of the most satisfying parts of the project had been working with the PCT and the partnership with them.

“We have been fortumate that our first main partner has ambitious plans for the future and commitment to addressing particular issues around health inequalties. When the service is inately conservative they are actually blazing a trail and willing to try different things.”

Proctor said the aim of the scheme in Birmingham was to extend the service from a small section of those with long term conditions (LTCs) to everyone with LTCs, applying aspects of the model according to need.

He added: “Our ambition is to come up with a coordinated model across health and social care.”

UK PHS has already worked with Birmignham City Council and Proctor said this would continue as well as possibly extending the work to cover other PCTs in West Midlands Strategic Health Authority. “There would be economies of scale because we already have a local service,” he said.

Proctor said the UK PHS programme worked best with populations with poor access to care because of either social or georgraphical problems and he said the model needed PCTs who were prepared to invest in self care and preventative care as well as treatment.

He added: “The challenge is to look as far back in the care process as you can, not just in terms of impact on health service activity, but in terms of the impact on the lives of people with LTCs.”

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