‘Telehealth’ advanced as cost-effective route to better care

Tomorrow, more than 230 delegates are expected to attend the event at Hull University’s Centre for Telehealth showcasing the latest developments in the field – which enables patients with conditions including heart failure, diabetes and breathing problems – to be monitored remotely by experts.

Centre project manager Jonathan Thorpe said the importance of telehealth to the NHS was clear.

“One of the major barriers preventing wider use of telehealth has been the difficulty of integrating it into existing services,” he said.

“At Hull we have a lot of experience of putting telehealth into practice, through the university’s clinical researchers, through trials we’ve conducted for equipment manufacturers and through partnering with our local health trusts to set up and assess telehealth services.

“Because telehealth is an efficient as well as effective way to care for patients, it offers the potential to improve services without increasing costs.”

NHS chiefs are investing millions of pounds in the technology which aims to detect worsening symptoms in people with long-term illnesses before they become serious to prevent them needing emergency hospital treatment and allowing them to stay at home. The approach also offers patients and their relatives greater peace of mind.

The Hull centre has been awarded more than £1.8m in research and evaluation contracts for telehealth since 2008 and has led one of the largest studies into its effectiveness for heart failure patients.