On the day when the 3ML Working Group meets the companies that have responded to its meeting invitation [TA 7 Feb], service provider Appello, the National Association of Patient Participation and the British Lung Foundation have issued a joint white paper: 3millionlives: Which three million lives? They are hoping to get clarity concerning some fundamental questions at the start of the initiative:
- is 3ML a telehealth initiative (there are more than enough patients who could benefit), or is telecare included too?
- how will patients’ views be heard and acted upon?
- how will doctors identify which patients can benefit from what? And based on what evidence?
- how will commissioners know what a ‘good service’ looks like and how might they best commission one? [A question TA will come back to in a future post.]
- how will any cash savings accrue to GPs and commissioners rather than other parts of the health service?
The paper grew out of the Telehealth Forum’s ‘Future Trends Round Table’ held at the time of the release of the WSD headline results in early December [TA item]. The participants in the Round Table also included the NHS Alliance, members of the royal colleges of GPs and of nursing, and various other people.
Editor Steve suggests that reading the white paper is worth the time – it is a relatively brief 16 pages of text. If really pushed, focus on pages 8 to 13. 3millionlives: Which three million lives? (PDF)
Completely out there suggestion – £ML (sorry I have a cynical ‘shift’ button on my tablet) working group and the ‘other’ group get together and chat. I had to call them the ‘other’ group because seeing as they are the actual workers, but are not in the ‘working’ group, I was a little confused.