Tunstall invests £100 m in ‘Connected Healthcare 2020’ strategy

June 23, 2015 | by

Tunstall Healthcare Group in UK outlined today their five-year public, global strategic vision, along with a fresh investment of £100 million during this timeframe (~£20 m per year) to transition their connected care systems over to IP and cloud technology. The initiative, dubbed Connected Healthcare 2020, is centered on:

  1. Leading the switch to IP infrastructure–transitioning away from analogue (analog) services and devices to connected digital and mobile (cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth)
  2. Extending managed services–offering a wide variety of services end-to-end including full outsourcing
  3. Developing new consumer propositions through innovation–tapping into demand, often private pay, for high quality home care not provided by carers (caregivers)
  4. Developing new models of care in the home through integration–coordination of social care and healthcare

The Yorkshire Post article also points out, through their separate comments with CEO Paul Stobart, that prospective markets include developing nations with aging populations such as Mexico, South Korea and Turkey. Tunstall claims market leadership in UK, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Australia, as well as fourth position in the US. The TECS (technology enabled care services) initiative will create about a dozen jobs per year at the Whitley HQ, adding to their present 650 there and their total globally of 3,500. Tunstall release

We wonder if in the US we will see more of Tunstall at events like the mHealth Summit. Tunstall Americas has a refreshed website and communications as ‘The voice of connected health’, is more strongly promoting their call/contact services and its HQ location in New York City. We’ve previously noted their recent home care acquisitions and partnership with QMedic.

Cumbria Technology Enabled Care Event Thursday 18 June

April 29, 2015 | by

This event will showcase the latest developments in technology enabled health & social care products & services. There will be discussions about how professionals can use technology in the redesign of Health and Social Care in Cumbria. This will build on the telecare work already undertaken by Cumbria County Council as well as the telehealth pilots that have taken place around the county and further afield.

It will be held at the Rheged Centre Redhills, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0DQ, between 13:30 – 16:00 on Thursday 18th June.

Topics to be discussed include:

  • New tools available from the NHS Commissioning Assembly – the Technology Enabled Care Services Resource;
  • How to use technology to enhance health and social care priorities such as prevention and well-being, remote consultations, managing long term conditions, independent living at home, winter pressures, mental health and dementia care.

(more…)

‘Rotting In Place’

March 11, 2015 | by | 2 Comments

Laura Mitchell, who was one of the key people behind GrandCare Systems and now is a marketing consultant and healthy aging advocate, has written an interesting article on LinkedIn Pulse, now on her website, springing off an AgingInPlaceTech article by Laurie Orlov.  Like the latter’s article, it commented on the Washington Post profile of Prof. Stephen Golant, whose POV on ‘aging in place’ was mostly that AIP is oversold–that in many cases, it’s ‘rotting in place in their own homes’. It’s a highly provocative topic with equally provocative statements and Ms Mitchell does take him to the woodshed, as does Ms Orlov in a different way. Prof. Galant seems to take a more moderate tone in his book (publicity perhaps?), citing (in the Amazon summary) that “older people often must settle for the least imperfect places to live. They are offered solutions that are poorly implemented or do not respond to the totality of their unmet needs.” a statement with which this Editor finds it difficult to disagree.

This Editor will largely cite her previous LinkedIn comment with a few embellishments/edits: (more…)

Widespread remote GP consultations getting closer; no shortage of implementation advice

February 10, 2015 | by

Following our previous item on the topic, on January 16th, Tim Kelsey made it very clear to this editor at a PICTFOR event that the £1b promised to GPs for premises improvement included a strong requirement that GPs also invest in electronic support, including remote consultation technology.

It is therefore particularly pleasing to see in yesterday’s Pulse Today, an item on a Skype trial in Central London that both patients and GPs seem to love. Some key quotes:

Almost all patients surveyed about their experience of the remote consultation service said they ‘would use it again’ (95%).

Although patients were warned that ‘the security of Skype isn’t 100%’, 83% also said (more…)

Technology Enabled Care Services (TECS) Online Resource for Commissioners published (UK)

January 13, 2015 | by

Long in development, the NHS Commissioning Assembly’s Technology Enabled Care Services (“TECS”) Online Resource for Commissioners has just been launched.

It was developed by NHS commissioners, with input from a wide number of organisations including DHACA and the TSA, to help maximise the value of technology enabled care services for patients, carers, commissioners and the whole health economy. Its purpose is to help raise awareness of how the wide range of TECS can support commissioning intentions and benefit patients, commissioners, families, health and social care professionals and provider managers. It also addresses the demand from commissioners for information on how to commission, procure, implement and evaluate these types of solutions effectively.  For more information visit the NHS Commissioning Assembly home page.

In view of its importance, this editor has elected to post this document without subjecting it to a full review – that will come in due course – however first impressions are positive: the style is short and to the point, and the pages very informative. The one additional thing this editor wanted to see, ideally in 72 font or bigger, is a clear statement at the beginning that, as the WSD proved beyond doubt, the benefits of TECS are only fully realised by changing the model of care: whilst there are comments that together make that point, my one concern is that it is not stressed sufficiently so we risk repeating history…or did I miss it in my haste?

Hat tip to Clive Flashman.

Are wearables starting to deliver?

November 13, 2014 | by

If you caught the recent Wired article entitled Wearables Are Totally Failing the People Who Need Them Most, you may have felt a sense of deep depression that a sector growing as strongly as it is is apparently delivering so little real health benefit (you may also be depressed to see the world of apps developers described as “From Silicon Valley and San Francisco to Austin and MIT…” although remember the North American-based Major League Baseball is called the World Series). The thrust of the article is that young people are developing wearables for people like them, who are then stopping using them within a few months, whereas those with long term conditions (LTCs) who are not the target customers are actually the ones using wearables consistently. As they say: (more…)

TSA appoints new chair

October 13, 2014 | by | 3 Comments

Significant comments follow, including a response from the TSA’s Managing Director

Following their earlier request for applications that we covered, the Telecare Services Association today announced the appointment of Andrew Gardner as its new chair, saying that by appointing from among the giants of the healthcare industry it has taken another big step towards making its vision for health, housing and social care a reality.

The statement continues: “The move came shortly after TSA set out a bold 3-year growth plan to challenge the ‘status quo’ in health and social care by leading, representing and promoting Technology Enabled Care & Support (“TECS”) services including telecare and telehealth. New Chair Andrew Gardner has worked as CEO for the largest independent provider of primary care to the NHS, and is currently Managing Director of a group including Careline UK, Cirrus Communication Systems and Appello Telehealth.  He will help to drive the growth of TECS in his new position as Chair at TSA:

“TSA’s focus on solutions for the 21st Century and improving self-management really excites me.  It’s in everyone’s interests to get (more…)