Just in this morning, a press release from Aberdeenshire Council announcing the publication of the evaluation of their 18 month telecare project. It’s a cracker, in every sense of the word*.

The headline news is excellent: Out of 51 people referred to the project, 34 people benefited from an increase in their independence at home, 8 people managed to stay at home instead of entering into a care home, and in 6 cases an unplanned hospital admission was prevented.

No corny jokes, just some great gifts pop out when you download the 64 page report.

I have only had time yet to skim-read through it but I can see that the report contains information that should shake things up on the UK telecare scene. Telecare Aware readers will find their own significant elements, but of particular interest to me were comments about suppliers, their delivery times and relationship to end users, and observations on the NHS PASA National Framework Agreement.

Thank you, Aberdeenshire, and the researchers at the Robert Gordon University, for such a readable, informative and potentially explosive report! Press release: Benefits of homecare technology highlighted in report.

* Ok, ok, for non-Commonwealth readers who don’t get the Christmas cracker reference, see here.

This is the simplest, clearest explanation I have seen of how remote patient health monitoring is managed in the NHS, what patients do, and its benefits. The 3.21 minute video on YouTube does not hide its Docobo origin, but that fact is not ‘in-your-face’.

Telecare gas detector saves a woman’s life while she sleeps. Press release from Lincolnshire County Council (UK).

Just flagging up this story in the terminology category, although as the ‘Telecare Crisis Line‘ began in 1989, it has a prior claim to the term.

Drat! I was going to set up a ‘telecare crisis line’ for telecare services running into problems.

A local authority says it needs to reduce staffing costs by 10% – with some of its 4,500 workforce to be offered voluntary redundancy. Denbighshire council is consulting on plans to save an estimated £5.7m over the next two financial years. Sign-of-the-times-item with interesting implications. BBC news report.

In this blog item the author rants most engagingly that many healthcare organisations are rushing into technological areas that they do not understand. He is responding (approvingly) to a recent US Joint Commission’s Sentinel Events Alert on HIT that challenges the dominant paradigm of health IT as an easy-to-accomplish panacea.

He raises thought-provoking matters that apply equally to the introduction of telehealth as any other healthcare technology. Read it here.

I missed this when it was published back in July, but it may be a fitting end-of-the-year item to mark the rise of what may be the next trend in telehealth monitoring technology, as briefly touched on in Telecare Aware a few times this year – the move to using the mobile phone as the ‘platform’ of choice for most people. This article, Open source calls the tune for phones, from the Guardian’s technology writer Victor Keegan draws out the potential of the mobile phone, starting with a mention of the 3G Doctor service, which is how I came across it. But it is more, much more…

The CommonWell project will support independent living and improve the quality of life for a total of 400 older people and people with long-term conditions in four locations in Europe.

However, when you read the press release, remember that the impression that this is an EU-inspired project is not all it seems. The part-EU funding comes from the EU’s Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme. This is actually a fund to which companies can apply for projects that support the EU’s Enterprise Policy aim of increasing the competitiveness of European-based companies. In this case, the company is Tunstall.

“Telehealth…is used as an ‘early warning system’, with the aim of quicker medical intervention and reduced hospital admissions…Woodside House Care Home in Norwich…is one of the first nursing homes to use the system in the county. It has been successfully tried with 26 residents, and will now be extended to 56 more as well as those in its specialised community for people with dementia”. A short item from the Eastern Daily Press but the taking on of this development by a private care home in the UK is a significant step.

It seems hard to believe this really is a first in Wales, but it’s a nice little article anyway. From WalesOnline.

Cambridgeshire-based Hidalgo Ltd has announced that its Equivital system (which already has US FDA (510k) registration) has met CE marking requirements. This will open up possibilities for it in EU countries. Press release.

A great-value posting (as always) in the e-CareManagement blog, advocating a phased strategy that concentrates on building doctor-patients connectedness.

An article just published on the UK’s Health Investor site is essential reading for anyone outside the UK who wants to start understanding what is going on. It also has food for thought for the rest of us. It begins:

The government sank £80 million in helping local authorities adopt preventative technology, and new consumer-led ways of buying services represent an unprecedented opportunity for growth in the sector. So why is the industry still struggling?

I’ll not spoil it for you by quoting more – hop over and read it soon. If you have trouble loading the page, you may need to register for a basic account first. [I don't normally send readers to sites where they have to register, but in this case I make an exception.] Article: Cause for alarm: The telecare industry hasn’t grown as quickly as expected. What is holding it back?

The title of this item is an amusing example of a small company producing a press release headline that draws attention by ‘hopping on’ to a mainstream news theme. As it happens, the company, Hop-on Inc., produces a mobile phone that is geared to the older-people market, with GPS location and a panic alarm button button built in. It is called the ChitterChatter – although you will be pushed to find it on the Hop-on website.

I suspect many Telecare Aware readers will have reservations about the technology and the company’s gaming connections (see its home page). However, the company is nothing if not ambitious. CEO, Peter Michaels said, “Every consumer with medical needs should have this technology. It is affordable and costs less than one hour’s time for a hospice caretaker or nurse. Hop-on will make a pitch to Congress to give this phone away to seniors on Medi-Cal, so if an emergency happens, they will have the patient’s information, location, and nearest medical services, with the touch of one button.” Press release.