The Care Services Improvement Partnership’s telecare services site has now moved to: www.icn.csip.org.uk/telecare
Of particular interest, despite the information overload, is the presentation on Commissioning Telecare Services.
You can also access the CSIP Telecare Newsletters. In July’s edition Mike Clark has written an interesting section: Preparing for mainstreaming – overcoming implementation barriers.
Mike lists issues currently being raised by telecare services around the UK as picked up through telecare mailbox queries and network meetings. He usefully summarises the issues, risks and good practice on the following:
• Fair Access to Care Services (FACS) – which is probably reducing the numbers and types users who will benefit from telecare services.
• Business cases – lack of long term, statistically valid evidence.
• Care pathways – unlikely that existing pathways include telecare and telehealth.
• Charging – few authorities have addressed all the issues.
• Champions – difficult to get high level local champions.
• Joint and strategic commissioning – not well developed in many areas.
• Cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness – difficult to establish long term cost-effectiveness.
• Culture change – staff have not adopted telecare as a care option.
• Data sharing – no agreed protocols in place.
• Evaluation – lack of local evaluations. (Note: Interesting good practice suggestion here.)
• Funding – insufficient long term funding to mainstream telecare and telehealth.
• Health involvement – health trusts slow to engage with telecare.
• Installation and maintenance – not matching referral rates leading to delays.
• Mainstreaming and sustainability – services not ready to mainstream.
• Monitoring and response – standards and arrangements differ across service providers.
• Performance indicators and targets – performance being measured only in additional numbers of older people benefiting from services.
• Preventative approaches – lack of a broad view.
• Projects and pilots – many have not yet moved out of piloting mentality.
• Protocols – care pathways and protocols not in place.
• Referrals – poor demand forecast.
• Workforce – workforce issues for full implementation and mainstreaming.