In short, there’s going to be neither.
Tucked away on page 7, the CISP Telecare Newsletter, 26 January 2007, says that “Web news sites have reported that further guidance on telecare is on the way” and, “In addition, it is being reported on news sites that the NHS is planning a major telehealth rollout”. The first is a reference to reports of Minister Ivan Lewis’s recent conference speech and the second to one by Richard Granger, NHS Director General of IT.
The newsletter spells out the actual situation: “There is no specific detailed guidance in respect of telecare planned. Work is being carried out on a joint commissioning framework for later publication – this will be relevant to telecare implementation and mainstreaming…” On the teleheath matter it says “The current major plans in England relate to the Preventative Technology Grant and the White paper whole system LTC demonstrators…Telecare could of course be covered in a POPP or extra care programme in relevant areas. The headline came from a report on a symposium on 24 January 2006 which looked in general terms at telehealth. No new announcements are planned.”
So it was all a matter of misunderstanding and inaccurate headline writing. Everyone can now breath a sigh of relief – DH isn’t going to impose telecare guidance on services after all, and the NHS isn’t going to have to change again. Phew!
In case you missed them:
Ministerial non-announcement.
Richard Granger’s non-announcement.
January CSIP Telecare Newsletter.