Plans for more home care on NHS could save billions
pharmafile | February 18, 2010 | News story | | NHS, home care
The NHS is to provide more dialysis and chemotherapy at home as part of a government bid to move treatment away from clinical settings.
“The time has come for the NHS to make a decisive shift in providing more care out of hospitals and in the patient’s community and home,” said health secretary Andy Burnham.
Patient groups have welcomed the idea so long as it is appropriate to a patient’s needs; Burnham said it could save the NHS up to £2.7 billion a year.
The Department of Health estimates that 7,000 patients in England could benefit from home dialysis, which it says will be cheaper and provide better patient care.
The annual costs could be up to 25% below that of a clinic, while patients would benefit from fewer admissions and from tailoring sessions to fit in with their lives.
“By allowing patients to manage their own dialysis treatment, they can not only be more in control of their condition but can also feel better emotionally and physically,” said Fiona Loud, chair of the Kidney Alliance.
Claimed health benefits include better blood pressure control, less reliance on medication and fewer restrictions on diet – elements that chime with the Darzi vision of quality at the heart of care in the NHS.
“Increased access to home haemodialysis could be achieved through improved commissioning and local implementation policies,” said Jane Macdonald, president of the British Renal Society.
As part of this cultural shift, the Department of Health has published a guide on developing chemotherapy services closer to home, following the pledge to give all cancer patients one-to-one support within five years.
The government is also set to publish a National Framework for Children and Young People’s Continuing Care, setting out services at home for children and young people with acute or long-term conditions or palliative care needs.
“For too long, services have been organised to fit the convenience of the system,” says Burnham. “But the NHS needs to do more to plan services around patients.”
An Audit Commission report this week shows that older people who have the opportunity to be looked after in their own home are happier and provide less of a burden to the taxpayer.
And the government says more people will also be given the option to die at home if they wish to, something that the Marie Curie charity is already piloting.
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