Name of the project and Sub-Objective of the PEOPLE project DH WHOLE SYSTEM LONG TERM CONDITIONS DEMONSTRATOR (WSD) PROGRAMME - KENT SITE E-health & independence (SO2)

The project The demonstrator will support individuals with longer-term and complex health and social care needs through the creation of multidisciplinary teams at PCT and local authority level. The teams will develop integrated care plans, and where appropriate, advanced assistive technology will be deployed in the home to support the provision of care. The aim of the demonstrators will be to show that we can help people with more complex needs maintain their independence, achieve significant gains in quality of life and reduce unnecessary acute hospital and care home use Main partners in the Kent project are Kent County Council—Kent Adult Social Services (KASS), East Kent and Coastal PCT, West Kent PCT, Viterion (supplier of Telehealth) and Tunstall (supplier of Telecare).

Objectives of the project The £31million programme was designed to deliver a large, randomised, controlled trial to investigate whether integrated health and social care, using assistive technologies, would benefit individuals and their carers, whilst also providing clinical gains and cost-effective care. It is the largest trial of telecare and telehealth anywhere in the world. The aim is to provide a better understanding of the level of benefit associated with telecare and telehealth, as well as to accelerate change, identify barriers to implementation and provide solutions for others to employ.

Beneficiaries (involved & concerned) Health and Social Care providers, funders and users

Results of the project Project is ongoing - it will be many months before there are any official evaluation results from the Whole System Demonstrator Programme, but indications from the early stages of the programme, and from previous experience with telecare and telehealth, do point towards improvements for patients and carers, as well as clinical and cost benefits.

Strengths of the project The programme is the largest trial of telecare and telehealth anywhere in the world and is designed to deliver a large, randomised, controlled trial.

Success factors of the project The three WSD sites cover over 6,000 people from broad population groups including urban, rural and mixed geographical populations, mixed ethnic populations and mixed social status. The inclusion of a control group in each demonstrator site will make the evaluation results more robust than those from previous pilots.

Problems occurred Some problems occurred initially in recruiting sufficient numbers of doctors' surgeries and patients onto the programme, but this is being rectified.

Conclusions (for the future) Definite conlusions/evaluations are yet to be made, but the evidence so far points to benefits for Health and Social Care providers, funders and users.

Continuation of the project Project running to end of 2010.

Replication of the project This is the largest, most expensive trial of its kind and is unlikely to require replication, but evidence from it will inform future projects and policy in the use of ICT for Health & Independence.