Walsall and Hull begin mass telehealth deployment

Walsall PCT and Hull PCT have begun large-scale deployments of telehealth equipment from Tunstall to monitor people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure (CHF) in their own homes.

Both PCTs are using Genesis monitors from Tunstall in an attempt to ensure best use of healthcare resources, reduce COPD and CHF related hospital admissions, support independent living and deliver an improved quality of life for patients.

The telehealth solution is provided to patients at home by healthcare professionals to deliver more proactive and preventative levels of care for conditions such as COPD, diabetes and congestive heart failure.

The monitor allows patients to measure their own weight, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, blood pressure and glucose levels. It can also ask a range of clinical and educational questions in one of 11 languages.

As a result, if patients with chronic conditions experience a change in their health status, proactive medical intervention can take place.

The treatment cost to Walsall PCT for each patient admitted to A+E can be as high as £2,300, and it is hoped that the telehealth solutions from Tunstall will prevent hundreds of avoidable admissions, by providing a more timely and preventative model of care.

Tony Diaram, project manager at Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council said: “This telehealth project will give patients truly person-centred care, helping them to manage their condition and avoid the constant cycle of hospitalisation.

Diaram added: “By letting patients monitor their own vital signs from home, the Tunstall Genesis units support greater independence and encourage better self-management of COPD, especially within hard to reach communities.”

Remote monitoring will also enable Walsall PCT to deploy healthcare resources effectively, and enable community matrons to manage their time and caseloads more effectively.

In Hull PCT, the telehealth programme is being run in partnership with the local University, City Council, Churches Home from Hospital voluntary organisation and Hull and East Riding Hospitals NHS Trust.

Carers at any of these organisations can commission Tunstall Genesis units to let people monitor their own weight and blood pressure daily.

The Genesis unit prompts the patient to answer a set of clinical questions, to help accurately gauge the status of their condition. These key CHF indicators are then automatically relayed to staff from the PCT over the user’s telephone line.

The approach enables daily accurate monitoring without needing the person to visit their GP and helping to avoid hospitalisation, while notifying staff if early medical intervention or assistance is needed.

Clare Brown, locality manager for Hull City Council’s community care services and telecare project lead said: “Our telehealth initiative will make a real difference to the lives of people with CHF. Previously, during acute phases of CHF, we would often have to hospitalise patients for long periods to simply monitor their condition, when they were in fact well enough to be at home – but no monitoring solution was available.

Brown added: “The Tunstall Genesis monitors allow us to track a patient’s condition closely while they remain in their home, which is proven to help their well-being, yet we can still react quickly if their condition worsens.”

Both PCTs hope that the telehealth service will also help reduce patients’ stress levels, which are a contributing factor to the condition, as it keeps them in a comfortable and familiar environment.

COPD kills 30,000 people every year in England and Wales alone, making it the fifth biggest killer, and the cost to the NHS of treating COPD is high, at £818 million per annum.

Previous research by Tunstall has shown that the use of Genesis monitors can reduce the need for hospitalisation by over 50% and for emergency care visits by nearly two thirds.

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