680 
A call for new measures to focus on preventative care of long-term illnesses rather then treatment on the UK’s NHS has been issued by a health body.
Conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure (CHF), which are directly linked to 80% of NHS costs and 60% of NHS activity each year, will be used as models to explore alternative care in order to ease the burden on primary and acute care.
Health organisation telehealth, part of the Tunstall Group, demonstrated at this year’s Managing Long Term Conditions conference how its services provide tailored care for patients.
Tunstall uses Genesis DM monitors to remotely monitor a patient’s vital signs in order to help clinicians to determine and treat their condition.
One recent success story of Tunstall’s is that of Sheffield Primary Care Trust, winner the 2008 regional finals of the NHS Health and Social Care Awards as a result of its deployment of telehealth.
Matthew Marshall, Health Director of Tunstall said: “The clear success of mainstream deployments across the UK demonstrates how telehealth can be used to provide more preventative, community-based care for people with long term chronic conditions, freeing up valuable healthcare resources within the NHS.”
Copyright © PA Business 2008
