Telehealth rollout threatened as Yorkshire GPs back out
North Yorkshire doctors \'not convinced of benefits\' of assistive technologies despite DH campaign
The rollout of telehealth technologies to patients with long-term conditions in north Yorkshire is being dubbed a failure after GPs refused to back the scheme.
One of the Department of Health’s flagship areas for the deployment of assistive technologies, NHS North Yorkshire and York introduced a pilot project in 2009 and extended that contract with supplier Tunstall in early 2010, striking a £3.2m deal to cover the rollout of 2,000 devices.
However, the programme has faced major delays and across the trust’s catchment area, just 645 people with long-term conditions including heart failure and diabetes are using the devices, down from 674 three months ago. Deployments also vary from place to place, with just 17 patients in the Scarborough and Ryedale area involved, compared to 368 in the Vale of York.
GPs have never really been convinced of the benefits of telehealth and it has never really got off the ground
And, with the existing contract coming up for renewal next month, GPs in the area, who will take over responsibility for commissioning NHS services in the spring appear unwilling to back the initiative.
In November GPs from practices in Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby unanimously voted in favour of abandoning the project, with only one of the four main GP-led clinical commissioning groups in the county believed to still be supporting the deployment. Four practices in a fifth smaller group in Craven are also planning to continue with the scheme.
Dr John Crompton, a GP in Boroughbridge and chairman of the North Yorkshire Local Medical Committee, said: “GPs have never really been convinced of the benefits [of telehealth] and it has never really got off the ground.
“It has been adopted in pockets around the country, but it’s not lived up to the initial hype. There should have been a lot more consultation and consideration of the evidence before the primary care trust committed to it.”
Medics are now reluctant to agree further funding at a time when health and social care budgets are being cut dramatically.
We believe the overall business for large-scale telehealth delivery is positive and compelling
Just two months ago Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, named North Yorkshire and Humber as one of seven areas to deliver a massive expansion in telehealth in order to make the UK a world leader in the field. He said 100,000 people would benefit from assistive technology by the end of this year and three million people over the next few years.
But with two thirds of the devices purchased for North Yorkshire remaining unused, critics are claiming the UK health and social care system is not ready for change.
Jim Clark, chairman of the North Yorkshire County Council’s health scrutiny committee, said there was a ‘totally disjointed’ approach to telehealth, both locally and nationally.
He added: “I think it is one of the ways forward for delivering healthcare in a large rural area like north Yorkshire, but the financing situation needs to be sorted out. We have got to look at how we can take it forward.”
I think it is one of the ways forward for delivering healthcare in a large rural area like north Yorkshire, but the financing situation needs to be sorted out
But Kerry Wheeler, NHS North Yorkshire and York assistant director of strategy, said a total of 1,200 patients had benefited from the scheme since its launch, adding that the trust was having ‘ongoing discussions’ with clinical commissioning groups about the future of the programme after the primary care trust is scrapped in April.
And Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven Clinical Commissioning Group said it would be supporting the continuation of the programme. A spokesman told BBH : “We are committed to offering continued support to the telehealth service which supports many patients to manage their health conditions better.”
Simon Arnold of supplier, Tunstall, added that it was still in talks with GPs across the county. “We believe the overall business for large-scale telehealth delivery is positive and compelling,” he said.
Earlier this week, BBH revealed that a report by the Digital Policy Alliance showed widespread future adoption of telehealth systems was being threatened by a number of factors, including the disjointed way in which health and social care services are funded, a lack of understanding of the long-term benefits for patients, and a lack of evidence on the efficacy of the systems in reducing hospital admissions and cutting costs.
And it warned that the Government’s ambitious 3millionlives project could be scuppered unless these problems are overcome.
Click here for the Digital Policy Alliance article.
