The 3millionlives initiative, launched in January by Care Services Minister Paul Burstow, has announced that it just enter in its next stage.
15 industry organizations have decided to support the campaign: 02 Health, Air Products, BT Health, Care Innovations, Cisco, Harmoni, Invicta Telecare, Peaks & Plains Housing Trust, Pfizer Health Solutions, Philips, Robert Bosch Healthcare, S3 Group, Telehealth Solutions, Technology Strategy Board and Tunstall Healthcare.
Chair Angela Single says “To gain the commitment of so many different types of organisation is testament to the importance of telehealth and telecare to the future of our health and care system. We must now work hard to deliver on the promise, to enable millions more people to benefit from improved health and independence, reduced admissions to hospital and in some cases, even longer lives.”
They join the four trade associations representing the telehealth and telecare industry – Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI), Telecare Services Association (TSA), Intellect and Medilink UK, who initiated the campaign through the signing of a Concordat with the Department of Health in January, when the initiative was born.
The Department of Health (DH) believes that at least three million people with long term conditions and/or social care needs could benefit from the use of telehealth and telecare services.
The initiative aims to enable 3 million people to receive the significant benefits demonstrated across the Whole Systems Demonstrator (WSD) programme. The headline results have shown a 15% reduction in A&E visits, a 20% reduction in emergency admissions, a 14% reduction in elective admissions, and perhaps most significantly, a 45% reduction in mortality rates.
Ultimately 3millionlives aims to improve quality of care for millions of people and deliver significant cost savings for health and social care service providers.
