Services for home patients are axed

Bosses have agreed to axe a string of services in Yorkshire set up to help vulnerable patients with longterm illnesses stay out of hospital.

The move in Barnsley will save £1.6m a year mainly on the cost of hi-tech telehealth equipment which remotely monitors patients’ vital signs at home.

HEALTH CHIEFS have agreed to axe a string of services in Yorkshire set up to help vulnerable patients with long-term illnesses stay out of hospital.

The move by NHS bosses in Barnsley will save £1.6m a year mainly on the cost of hi-tech telehealth equipment which remotely monitors patients’ vital signs at home.

Telephone advice services operated by nurses for people with longstanding illnesses and “postcrisis” checks on patients discharged from hospital will also be terminated from the end of January.

A review found the services were popular with patients but officials say they are underused, costly and there is “limited evidence” they keep people out of hospital or from using other health services. They are instead recommending patients are supported by existing services including the NHS 111 helpline.

The decommissioning decision comes as NHS bosses across the country are examining measures to save cash which are likely to see an increasing focus on provision of core health services.

Figures show more than 500 people used the telehealth service in Barnsley in 2016, which measures vital signs including blood pressure and pulse, with nearly 3,400 receiving telephone health coaching and post-crisis support.

But officials at NHS Barnsley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said despite efforts to improve uptake of services, they were only operating at half their capacity for patients with conditions including diabetes, asthma, stroke, heart disease and high blood pressure.

A survey of nearly 300 people said they found the services gave them peace of mind, confidence and reassurance. But a report by NHS officials said a number of patients were looking for emotional rather than clinical support.

It said the monitoring of vital signs was not carried out in real time. Spending worth £1.6m was a “costly use of resources” competing with existing services which were struggling to meet demand pressures as the population ages with increasingly complex illnesses.

The CCG’s chief nurse, Brigid Reid, said: “At the time the care navigation and telehealth services were set up in Barnsley in 2010, they were innovative and offered us the chance to look at how things like health monitoring electronic devices in people’s homes and personal goal setting could help people maintain control of their health and wellbeing, with the ultimate aim of staying out of hospital.”

At the time these services were set up in 2010, they were innovative. Brigid Reid, chief nurse at the Clinical Commissioning Group.