Oral Answers to Questions

Fiona Bruce Excerpts

Tuesday 10th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Paul Burstow]

I will certainly pass on the hon. Gentleman’s request.

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

8. When he expects residents in Congleton constituency to benefit from investment in telehealth and telecare services by the NHS.

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley)]

I am pleased to say that patients in Congleton who have health conditions such as heart failure or chronic respiratory disease can already benefit from these technologies. I am committed to supporting the use of telehealth and telecare services by working with industry to improve the lives of 3 million people across the country who are living at home with long-term conditions.

[Fiona Bruce]

I thank the Secretary of State for that reply, and indeed innovative schemes in my constituency and across the Cheshire East council area, such as DemenShare, are already using this technology. But what other schemes and advances will the Government introduce for an area that has the highest level of elderly people per population head in the north-west of England and where the number of over-65s will grow by 50% and the number of over-85s is set to more than double by 2025?

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her question. She rightly talks about this increasing number of older people in the community and rightly says that we want to support them to be independent and to improve their quality of life.

The whole system demonstrator programme was the largest trial of telehealth systems anywhere in the world. In the three pilot areas of Kent, Cornwall and Newham, it demonstrated a reduction in mortality among older people of 45%; a 21% reduction in emergency admissions; a 24% reduction in planned admissions to hospital; and a 15% reduction in emergency department visits. Those are dramatic benefits, which is why we are so determined to ensure, over the next five years, that we reach out to older people who are living at home with long-term conditions and improve their quality of life in this way.