Immedicare, an innovative telemedicine service connecting medical specialists with care home residents via video link, has now been rolled out across 55 of the city’s care homes.
The Immedicare service is already proving successful in other city regions across the UK, and new findings show how telemedicine can dramatically reduce local healthcare costs and frontline resource pressures.
The service was first trialled in the city in 2017 following a ground-breaking collaboration with Liverpool’s Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). It is now being expanded for use in 55 care homes across the city.
Three purpose built intermediate care units, including two hubs newly built ahead of winter 2019, will also use the technology.
Immedicare’s clinical care team is based at a hub within NHS Airedale Trust in Yorkshire, and 60 per cent of all consultations into its 24/7 digital hub do not require any onward referral to a local health care professional with 90 per cent of patients remaining in their place of residence after their video consultations.
Immedicare’s nurses can also request prescriptions to ensure the quick delivery of medicine to care homes.
David Butler, commissioning and development lead for Immedicare, adds: “Our pioneering approach to healthcare is helping improve the lives of care home residents across Liverpool, so we’re delighted to have been able to expand to service more widely across the city.
“Through Immedicare, we have a team of medical experts on hand to serve patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week, preventing delays in care and allowing less time for conditions to deteriorate. We believe telemedicine solutions like this truly have the power to transform the help received in care homes, while delivering the help that the NHS is crying out for.
“We know it isn’t the single solution to the NHS’s challenges, but Immedicare’s results show how telemedicine yields positive results, generating significant savings and helping to reduce the strains that exist on the frontline of healthcare delivery.”
Dr Fiona Ogden-Forde, governing body member and clinical lead for healthy ageing at Liverpool CCG, comments: “The Immedicare service is an important part of our care home offering in Liverpool and has contributed to our ultimate goal of delivering the best possible experience for residents, families and care home staff.”
The service has been deployed as part of the wider Liverpool Care Home Improvement Strategy, which is a joint strategy between Liverpool CCG, Liverpool City Council and the care home community. This will be enhanced by the implementation of the Enhanced Health in Care Home Framework implementation across the city in a phased approach over the next year.
