The COVID-19 pandemic has starkly illustrated why health and social care services should make greater use of TECS. Technology connects people, and enables integrated, person-centred and preventative care provision. It must play a pivotal role in the way we remodel services in a post-Covid-19 world to create a true ‘healthcare’ system.
Launched in October 2020, the Connecting services, Transforming lives report investigates the role of TECS in enabling health and care services to provide much needed support for vulnerable people across the UK, particularly during a time of crisis.
Using a series of case studies to highlight how TECS are already connecting services and changing lives, the report also emphasises that the deployment of technology has accelerated throughout the pandemic, and how this can be embraced for the future.
Why TECS?
TECS can benefit a range of client groups, as well as those who care for them. Both telecare and telehealth (also known as remote patient monitoring) can enhance the quality of life of people living with long term conditions, dementia, physical and learning disabilities whether in their own homes or living in residential care. The technology manages risks and helps service users to remain independent, safe and socially involved with friends, family, and their community.
TECS not only provides users with the means to summon help in an emergency, but can also react to, and even prevent, incidents such as falls and fires. Community alarm and telecare services can be used to signpost to other services, for example if they detect activity in the home is reducing, or that a person’s mental health is declining, and this has been particularly important during the pandemic.
The value of TEC has been demonstrated in Cardiff, where falls are the most common cause of injury in people aged 65 years and older. By having a proactive response service in place, in 2018/19 only six percent of calls where users had fallen resulted in an ambulance call out, leading to over £670,000 of costs being avoided. Projects like this highlight that telecare services with a response element can prevent premature death or early entry into a residential care setting.
Likewise, remote patient monitoring is being used in Bolton, where residents in 34 care homes have their vital signs measured and symptoms recorded to enable early intervention if a potential deterioration in health is identified. This can avoid the need for more complex care being required, keeping residents out of hospital and reducing the need for face to face clinical care, reducing the risk of cross infection.
Reactive to proactive
Proactive services combine telecare monitoring and response with outbound contact. The largest example of this is in Spain, where there are 470,000 users. Operators proactively call service users on a regular basis to check on their wellbeing, remind them of appointments, prompt them to take medication, or to offer reassurance and assess mood. In total, over 96 percent of users have experienced improved safety and 92 percent feel less lonely. Over three quarters (78%) have also achieved a greater ability to live alone and there have been 35 percent fewer calls to the emergency services.
Improving outcomes in practice
Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) works with Tunstall Healthcare to deliver a managed telecare and response service . Between October 2019 and December 2020, significant benefits and improved outcomes have been observed. Over 280 cases where a high and immediate risk of admission to residential care were avoided, and over 650 cases which would have required additional community care costs were avoided, resulting in total cost avoidance of over £2.2 million.
Looking ahead
Throughout the pandemic we’ve seen much greater recognition of the benefits of technology within health and social care systems, and willingness to try new approaches. This not only addresses issues presented by COVID-19, but supports our services in becoming more resilient, preventative, and person-centred.
Although there's still a long way to go, this is a trend which will continue and we’ll see technology and data featuring more prominently in how our services are designed in coming years to increase independent living, reduce the strain on our services, and safeguard them for the future.
For more information on the findings of the ‘Connecting services, Transforming lives’ report, please visit https://www.tunstall.co.uk/resources/white-papers/connecting-services-transforming-lives/
Gavin Bashar is UK MD of Tunstall Healthcare
