Latest Research
JULY 2010
New 2020health Research: Developing a National Framework for Telehealth
Following on from 2020health’s widely acclaimed publication ‘Fixing NHS IT – a plan of action for the new government’ on how the Coalition Government can rescue the £12 billion National Programme for Information Technology, 2020health today announces the launch of a major new research study around Telehealth.
The White Paper “Equity and Excellence – Liberating the NHS” charts out a course to transform the NHS with patients at the centre. 2020health views Telehealth (the provision of care remotely, for example by extending the reach of clinicians into the domestic care setting through assistive and mobile technology) as a key enabler of the White Paper’s aspirations. We believe that it can lead to the delivery of services more focused around the patient, with further efficient and effective use of scarce clinical resources and dramatically lower levels of admissions for patients with chronic conditions.
2020health’s earlier report ‘Fixing NHS IT’ concluded, “While evident that telemedicine can offer a great potential, it does create challenges, especially in terms of its funding and impact on current reimbursement schemes…without a clear national direction, the risk is that a fragmented, point-to-point approach is adopted without taking advantage of common national infrastructure.”
The NHS IT team at 2020health, led by the author of “Fixing NHS IT” John Cruickshank, is keen to contribute to the debate and intends to prepare an independent, authoritative report on the future NHS strategy for Telehealth, recommending both national and local actions. 2020health is delighted to announce that several leading companies including Accenture, BT, Medtronic, Vodafone and TPP have agreed to work with us on the study.
New 2020health Report: Health, disease and unemployment: The Bermuda Triangle of Society
In the new report Health, disease and unemployment: The Bermuda Triangle of Society, 2020health urges the government to support good health at work, if it is to deliver on its emergency budget commitment of £11 billion in welfare savings. Health has a major impact of employment and productivity, the annual cost of absence and worklessness associated with working age ill health is estimated at over £100 billion (600 000 new incapacity claims made annually). The new report identifies cost effective measures to achieve priority savings in the welfare budget, without having to dismantle the welfare ‘safety net’ (in tough economic times).
Our recommendations:
• Work should be adopted by the NHS as a legitimate clinical outcome of treatment and management. Supporting people to return to work should be a key objective of all health services.
• Strengthen the formal links and increase joint working between the DWP and DH, through the health and work directorate led by Dame Carol Black.
• Promote earlier intervention of conditions that could lead to work absence, and increase awareness of the role of appropriate prescribing in helping people to participate in work and to offset the long term cost of degenerating conditions.
• Refocus the incentive structure for health professionals and review medical training to bring about a behavioural shift away from symptom management, towards tangible “whole-patient” outcomes like work participation.
• The role of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) should evolve to consider mental health and a reduction in work related stress.
• Better access to occupational health services and physiotherapy within GP premises to help with the implementation of the new ‘Fit Note’.
JUNE 2010
New 2020health Report: Cutting the costs without cancelling the services: How to save the NHS £12bn in one year without stopping a single operation
In the new NHS review Cutting the costs without cancelling the Services, 2020health unveil some radical proposals including
• Merging emergency services administration – SAVE £14.4m
• Investing to improve staff’s health and wellbeing, reduce sickness absence and so cut agency worker’s costs – SAVE £555m
• Forcing mergers of pathology labs to save duplication – SAVE £880m
• 5% across the board pay cut for all NHS staff for just one year – SAVE £1.792bn
• Withholding hospital payments for hospital acquired infections – SAVE £150m
• Slashing management spend - SAVE £1.5bn
• Enhancing NHS counter fraud measures, encouraging trusts to see fraud as a business risk - SAVE £1bn
• Halting any new building plans - SAVE £800 million
• Making NHS IT fit for purpose - SAVE £2bn
• Reducing dependency on prescriptions and medicines waste – SAVE £ 1.6bn
“Andrew Lansley wants the NHS to be more accountable and each one of these measures will ensure that tax payers money is spent more wisely”, says Gail Beer, Consultant Director at 2020health.
Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, says: “With a massive budget deficit, every area of public spending must be looked at to find savings. The NHS is such a big budget that it cannot be ignored, and this report shows that it is possible to make large economies without harming the interests of patients. Indeed, tightening up management and eliminating duplication and delays would help to improve the experience for patients as well as saving money.”
