NHS Dudley Wins Award for Innovative Telehealth Deployment

PR Log (Press Release) – Oct 05, 2009 – NHS Dudley has received an award for its innovative approach to managing long-term conditions such as heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the home through the use of telehealth.

In Dudley’s regional “Celebrating Success Awards”, the award for partnership working was won by Dudley Primary Care Trust, Dudley council, Dudley Community services and Dudley Group of Hospitals Foundation Trust, for the launch of their new telehealth monitoring service.

The new telehealth service is currently being offered to patients with two long-term conditions, and allows them to have their health managed remotely by nursing staff.  Telehealth systems supplied by Tunstall Healthcare are set up in patients’ homes by Dudley Council’s Community Alarms team, and measure a patient’s health and well-being in the home environment.

Patients are trained to use the monitor by nursing staff and they then take their own blood pressure, oxygen levels, weight and temperature, on a daily basis. This information is automatically transferred using the telehealth monitor to Dudley Community Alarm’s monitoring centre, where the information is checked and any problems raised with PCT nursing staff.

Councillor Lesley Faulkner, cabinet member for adult and community services said: “The Telehealth partnership between the council and the PCT offers a whole range of benefits to the patient.  By deploying the system for community based care we are empowering patients, reducing anxiety, promoting independence and so improving overall quality of life. Telehealth also educates patients to be aware of their symptoms, to proactively manage them, reducing part of the burden on health care providers.”

Rachel Harris, Chair of Dudley Primary Care Trust said: “This is an excellent example of the innovative partnership work being undertaken by the PCT, the council and Tunstall Healthcare. We always look to provide the most appropriate care, as close to home as possible and this project really does build on these principles. I’m sure that many patients throughout the borough will benefit from Telehealth”.

Telehealthcare is an important development in managing patients with long-term conditions and it will continue to play a significant role in the modern health care system in the future.