Volume 1

The use of new medical technologies within the NHS : fifth report of session 2004-05 / House of Commons, Health Committee.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Health Committee.
Date:
2005
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: The use of new medical technologies within the NHS : fifth report of session 2004-05 / House of Commons, Health Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    4 Introduction 1. New medical technologies have the potential to transform the way in which health and social care services are provided.' According to the NHS Improvement Plan: “evidence indicates that telecare* can bring substantial benefits in providing people with greater choice over their care, assisting people to remain in their homes, reducing inappropriate admissions, facilitating discharge from hospital, and providing advance warning of deterioration in a patient’s condition.” 2. The UK is a world-leader and centre of excellence for the development of new medical technologies, but it lags behind many countries in the implementation of these innovative products. Sir Derek Wanless* observed the UK has “been slow to adopt and diffuse new technologies”® resulting in it “lagging behind many other countries.”° 3. We announced our intention to hold this inquiry in December 2004 with the following terms of reference: The Committee will undertake a short inquiry into the use of new medical technologies within the NHS. In particular, this will include consideration of: e The utilisation of telemedicine (including telecare) and its future potential for improving services e The recommendations of the Healthcare Industries Task Force (HITF) Report, published 17 November 2004 e The speed of, and barriers to, the introduction of new technologies e The effectiveness and cost benefit of new technologies. We decided to exclude from the scope of the inquiry the National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT) and pharmacological technologies owing to the shortness of the inquiry. Moreover, the Committee had examined these areas recently. 4. People are living longer and surviving previously life-threatening illnesses, due in part to advances in medical science. The population is an ageing one, which requires a different range of services to help manage long-term conditions and to support independent living. New medical technologies can assist elderly people and those with disabilities to be cared ' Ev 30 2 Telecare — includes systems that incorporate electronic devices that can alert the occupant of a house or a care response system on the occurrence or non-occurrence of predetermined events. Ev 38 3 Department of Health, The NHS Improvement Plan: Putting People at the Heart of Public Services, Cm 6268, June 2004, p 67 4 Sir Derek Wanless, carried out the Health Trends Review at the request of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In April 2002, he produced the report Securing our Future Health: Taking a Long-Term View. He continued his advisory work for Government in October 2002 when he agreed to advise the Welsh Assembly Government in its review of health and social care. He undertook further work for the UK Government and in February 2004 published Securing Good Health for the Whole Population. 5 Derek Wanless, “Securing Our Future Health: Taking a Long-Term View, HM Treasury, April 2002, p 157 6 Derek Wanless, “Securing Our Future Health: Taking a Long-Term View, HM Treasury, April 2002, p 156