NHS telehealth will not get national implementation

13 November 2012

Three million people will benefit from telehealth systems.

telehealth will not be rolled out nationally

Remote telehealth monitoring systems are not being rolled out on a national basis and decisions where the technology is used will depend on “robust” business cases, health minister Norman Lamb has said.

The government has promised that three million people will benefit from telehealth systems. Telehealth and telecare services rely on devices which allow doctors to monitor patients from their homes.

The tools are intended to reduce the need for hospital visits and to help the NHS reduce costs in dealing with long term conditions – the largest resource drain on the health service.

Telehealth could reduce emergency admissions and extend life expectancy for patients, Lamb said in answer to a parliamentary question.

But the government was “not funding a national implementation”. “The benefits of telehealth will vary according to local circumstances,” the minister said.

“We have developed 3millionlives to enable local commissioners to implement telehealth services where they assess there is a robust business case.”

http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=21437