From\u00a0passive to proactive: How monitoring technology can help to solve the health and social care crisis<\/em>, the report follows recent social care promises from the new government to accelerate the adoption of technology in health and care and highlights the \u2018domino effect\u2019 that proactive monitoring employed in social care can have not just on council resources but also the NHS and patient outcomes.<\/p>\nIt identifies hospital discharge as a key area that can see a significant impact from the technology. Earlier discharge would amount to 2.3 million additional bed days and almost \u00a31.2bn in savings for the NHS, due to reduced costs of providing beds for patients over the next ten years – enough to pay the salaries of 2,000 nurses over the period. It would also lead to better health outcomes for the many thousands of people experiencing delayed discharge every day, with extended stays linked to higher risk of infections, adverse drug reactions and readmissions to hospital.<\/p>\n
The report also finds that adopting monitoring technology now would save councils \u00a33bn by 2035 by supporting people to live independently at home for longer and preventing thousands of people entering more expensive care settings, such as residential care. The productivity benefits would help to address the workforce crisis in care, by generating additional capacity equivalent to 94 million hours of carer time across the UK, or to having 10,000 extra care workers. These productivity benefits would be worth an estimated \u00a31.8bn to councils, allowing vital resources to be redistributed to where they are most needed.<\/p>\n
Lifestyle monitoring technology works by tracking patterns of behaviour and key indicators of health, such as movement, eating and bathroom activity, and alerting carers to any changes. This allows care professionals to quickly make accurate care assessments, and safely monitor people\u2019s health at home remotely, while being on the front foot to proactively spot signs of health decline before conditions require hospital treatment. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) have been identified as a key area where monitoring technology can help prevent hospital admissions, and the report estimates that the NHS could make savings of \u00a31.8m each year through reduced hospital admissions from UTIs, due to earlier intervention, which could pay for half a million hours of nursing time.<\/p>\n
Rebecca Andrew, Service Improvement Manager from Nottinghamshire County Council, said: \u201cThe rollout of remote monitoring technology across Nottinghamshire allows our social care staff access to real time data, giving insights into a person\u2019s behaviour over a period of time. This helps them to build a clear picture of what is going on in a person\u2019s life and draw their attention to any potential change in their social care needs. This ensures we can put appropriate care and support in place that is personalised to the individual, and respond quickly to prevent crises, meaning fewer ambulance call outs and hospital admissions.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the report, produced by economists at Policy Points, \u201cthere is strong evidence that lifestyle monitoring technology can generate essential, big-ticket savings for both the NHS and for social care, creating a digital dividend by protecting scarce hospital resources at the same time as boosting the productivity of carers\u201d.<\/p>\n
Kelly Hudson, Chief Executive Officer at Lilli, said: \u201cRight now, the people who need care are not getting the help that they should, and the problem will only get worse as the population ages. The numbers in this report speak for themselves. The savings and productivity figures highlight the profound difference that an investment in technology now would have not just on the system but on the lives of people up and down the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lifestyle monitoring technology from Lilli is currently being used by multiple councils across the UK, including Islington, Nottingham and Reading, to enable people to live safely and independently at home.<\/p>\n
The report goes on to explain how over the next ten years, the older population will \u2018grow by millions\u2019, increasing demand for its services, and for the health and care system to be sustainable, a commitment to overhauling the system at pace and scale is urgently needed. The alternative is a broken system that will continue to be reactive and is unable to meet the care needs of those who need it most.<\/p>\n
Kelly Hudson adds: \u201cWe are supportive of the new Health Secretary\u2019s ambition for a \u2018different politics on social care\u2019 and we urge the new government to tackle the current crisis proactively as they have pledged, by addressing the root cause of the issue. We are urgently calling for more support for the sector to adopt a technology led approach to better support the people in need, reduce wasted costs and deliver better outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
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