By Steve Hards, Editor, Telecare Aware.

Back in November, Telecare Aware dug around a little in the procurement practices of (mostly) local councils in the UK. (Dirty tactics in the telecare/telehealth market) The bad news for companies wanting to sell into the NHS is that there is emerging evidence that NHS organisations are not highly competent in commissioning innovative services and may also frequently flout good procurement practices. The good news is that this is increasingly being challenged and there may be new opportunities not just to challenge tenders, but for the NHS itself to seek redress from companies that misrepresent their capabilities and what they will provide. (more…)

Fred Reardon, an independent consultant writes about a life-threatening issue.

At the end of last week I received a letter from my broadband provider Sky [UK entertainment and communications services provider] to inform me of the new and improved network for Sky broadband and that they would be upgrading my service on the 2/2/2010 and that there would be a loss of service for a short time approx 25 minutes. I read through the letter to see what this would mean for me. At the very end of the letter the last paragraph was headed:

Social Alarm and Telecare service
If you have a remotely monitored social alarm service or Telecare services which uses your telephone line, you should contact us straight away. (more…)

Over the past four weeks people in the UK have been experiencing the worst snow and cold winter weather for 30 years and we have had one, now two, press releases from telecare monitoring services praising the dedication of staff in keeping the service monitored and clients safe.

While adversity (especially adverse weather) undoubtedly brings out the best British characteristics of determination and pitting yourself against the odds to keep going – especially where people in care-related jobs are concerned – one wonders what responsibility the managers of services have to put measures in place to ensure that staff are safe and, even, not unduly inconvenienced. For example, have they made arrangements with nearby hotels so that on duty staff can avoid hazardous trips home? Or have they arranged dispersed (home-based) monitoring?

If you have an example of an employer going that extra mile to support his or her staff in these difficult conditions, we’d like to hear it – leave a comment.

Andrew Hall, a Telehealth Entrepreneur in the UK, reflects on the potential effect of the financial crisis on the future of the market for remote patient monitoring telehealth.

Even when the cash flowed, investment in this technology has been startlingly low and ineffective. It is difficult to see how the new financial environment will improve that track record… (more…)

Skip Rodenbush, Founder and CEO of Interactive Multimedia Artists expounds on why current telemedicine videoconferencing has such high barriers to adoption. See end of the article for information on the new system his company has developed.

The new healthcare delivery system depends heavily on the wide deployment of scalable and manageable telemedicine. Traditional telemedicine technologies do not meet these requirements. Instead they offer expensive, unmanageable and overall impractical solutions. (more…)

In his second Soapbox item, Paul Mitchell, social services consultant and general manager of Icom Technology throws down – in the most helpful kind of way – a challenge to telecare service commissioners to up their game.

An observer could be forgiven for thinking that many commissioners purchase telecare as they would cutlery… (more…)

Paul Mitchell, an experienced consultant and troubleshooter in social care in the UK argues that partnership agreements between councils and telecare providers may be anti-competitive, anti-choice, and not in the best interests of service users.

Many social care authorities who have signed up to so-called exclusive ‘partnership’ agreements may now regret having their hands tied.

All is not lost however because unless those providers can live up to the implicit and explicit terms of those agreements I would urge the customers to review the validity of the agreements. First let’s look at some of the frequently recurring terms in such agreements and their implications. (more…)

Adam Wragg, European Managing Director of Honeywell HomMed responds to the previous Telecare Soapbox item: ‘Responsibility of the market leader‘ and throws down a challenge to us all.

I read with interest the anonymous comments of the writer who sent in the July 14th article to which this is a response.

Growing the overall market is not the sole responsibility of any commercial market leader; building a viable business is. By building a viable business the products and services that are offered become less expensive and more effective. However… (more…)

Anonymous commentator applies some concepts from the technology adoption life cycle to consider progress – or not – in the UK’s telehealth market.

Being a market leader has one key responsibility: to grow the overall market. The market leader cannot make significant growth by focusing on taking business from its smaller competitors as there is not sufficient business to be gained. Market growth is achieved by promoting and proving the value to be had from innovative products and by the innovation of the applications, mainstream and niche, for which their products can be used.

So let’s look at what has happened in telehealth in the UK… (more…)

With this headline everyone – in the UK at least – will know what I was watching last week but it set me thinking: where did the English telecare initiative that started in 2004 go wrong? Why has it failed to deliver the stunning performance that seemed so certain after such a strong second round and getting through to the final?

Was the Telecare Policy Collaborative just a flash in the pan?

Did Building Telecare in England hit some wrong notes?

Was the Preventative Technology Grant a flawed act?

Has the PASA National Telecare Framework Agreement lost its glitter?

In short, why is it that

most of Britain is still suffering the same jaded routine (pendant alarm systems) as 10 years ago, albeit re-branded as ‘telecare’, when the Policy Collaborative was trying to boil up something fresh, daring, diverse and dynamic?

Can telecare, as originally envisaged, be rescued from the sidelined losers?

Put yourself in a judge’s seat and have your say in a comment.

Steve Hards asks “What questions should telehealth commissioners be asking suppliers?”

Now that the laughter in the UK’s telecare/telehealth community over Tunstall’s name change in the UK to ‘Tunstall Healthcare’ has subsided into a rather nervous giggle, it’s an appropriate time to raise the question of what criteria does a company have to meet to be recognised as a healthcare company? (more…)

An appreciative comment on the Telecare Services Association’s 2008 conference in Brighton on 3-5 November by ‘telehealth convert’, Consultant Cardiologist Dr Lance Forbat. (more…)