New Framework Offers Care Commissioners Easy Access To Tech-Enabled Care Products And Services
A new way for care professionals to purchase telecare and telehealth products and services has been launched by ESPO, the UK’s leading professional buying organisation for the public sector.
ESPO’s new Telecare and Telehealth Products and Services Framework supports the integration of health and social care services, making it a flexible EU-compliant solution for commissioners, within local authorities, health services and housing providers wishing to procure both health and care support for individuals, tailored to their specific requirements.
The use of technology to support independent living and long-term health conditions has been widely recognised by NHS England and NHS Commissioners to have the potential to transform the way people manage their own healthcare. With long-term illness affecting around three million people in the UK and an ageing population, together accounting for 75% of the NHS’ costs, telecare and telehealth products and services can more effectively monitor as well as help keep people fit and active in their own homes for longer.
This new ESPO framework will help commissioners maintain or encourage patient or service user independence, by enabling those with health conditions or the elderly to benefit from enhanced monitoring and care within the home setting.
Commissioners can use the framework to access products and services in two different ways:
Lot 1 – A catalogue featuring telecare and telehealth products and services from 13 different suppliers. It is aimed at commissioners who know the products and services they require.
Lot 2 – Provision of telecare and telehealth as a managed service (including complete service outsourcing).
Jane Blois, category manager in the People & Communities team at ESPO said: “The NHS is under enormous financial pressure caused by our ageing population and a huge portion of our health budgets are spent on the long-term care of people with chronic conditions.
“Telehealth and telecare products and services can help transform the way people manage their own healthcare and safety requirements. Keeping people fit and able in their own homes for longer and a reduction in hospital and care home admissions will relieve some of the financial pressure on the NHS and social care departments. “Our framework gives commissioners easy access to the UK’s leading telecare and telehealth suppliers without the need to undertake a lengthy and costly EU-compliant process as this has already by carried out by ESPO.”
Telecare provides support and assistance from a distance. It offers continuous, automatic and remote monitoring of service users via sensors to allow them to continue living independently. Sensors can detect action such as falls and even detect gas leaks and floods, door (and doorbell activation, and a host of other events. The sensors trigger alerts at a remote location (typically a specialist monitoring centre) to indicate that the service user may require assistance.
Telehealth is the remote exchange of data between a patient at home and their clinician to assist in diagnosis and monitoring. It is typically used to support patients with long term conditions and may comprise of fixed or mobile home units to measure and monitor temperature, blood pressure and other vital sign parameters for clinical review at a remote location using phone lines of wireless technology.
With over 30 years’ experience in public sector procurement, ESPO is a customer-focused, not-for-profit, public sector-owned purchasing organisation. It has specialist buying teams with expertise in providing high quality procurement solutions to the government and its partner organisations on a nationwide basis. It works with a strong and diverse supply chain to deliver best value procurement solutions.
