Jump to: Page Content, Site Navigation, Site Search,

Birmingham Own Health

Description Telephone based care to support and empower individuals to make behaviour changes that improve their health and well being, whilst also encouraging self management of their long term condition.
Setting Telephone Based Care Management Centre in Dudley.
Populationting People with diabetes, heart failure, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who live in areas of deprivation in Birmingham.
Intervention summary Telephone based care linked to Primary Care Trust services, general practice and social support.
Outcome Summary Improved health of patients and reduction in utilisation rates.
Startup Cost £120 000
Running Cost £850 000 per annum
Funding Commissioning and NRF funds
Started September 2005
Ended Continued to March 2008
Location Birmingham, West Midlands, England
Contact
  • Name: Andrew Donald
  • Address: Birmingham East and North Primary Care Trust, 4th Floor, Richard Street, Waterlinks House, B7 4AA
  • Telephone: 0121 380 9031
  • Email: andrew.donald@benpct.nhs.uk

    • Background

    The basic principles are to support and empower individuals to make behaviour changes that improve their health and well being, whilst also encouraging self management of their long term condition. Such principles have been shown to improve patterns of demand on healthcare resources, providing benefits for the healthcare system as well as the individuals being supported.

    What is the problem you are trying to solve?

    We are aiming to increase self care, empower patients, reduce health inequalities and reduce unplanned healthcare interventions.

    What local organisations are involved?

    Birmingham East and North Primary Care Trust (PCT), Heart of England Foundation Trust, Birmingham City Council, NHS Direct, and UK Pfizer Health Solutions.

    How many people are running this project and who are they?

    The partners in the organisations above, plus 16 whole time equivalent care managers.

    What local population are you targeting?

    People with diabetes, heart failure, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease and, from April 2007, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who live in areas in Birmingham recognised as having health inequalities and deprivation.

    How many people are you targeting?

    Approximately 3400 people

    Interventions

    What interventions are you using to address the problem?

    Telephone based care linked to PCT services, general practice and social support.

    Is the project design based on evidence? If so, please state reference.

    There is a growing worldwide evidence base for the impact of self care and care coordination programmes. This evidence base was analysed and presented in 2005 by Professor Chris Ham, Health Services Management Centre 1 .

    Outcome

    What outcomes or planned outcomes are you measuring?

    We are measuring a range of outcomes in four domains: behavioural, clinical, activity, and organisational:

    • Clinical outcomes include blood pressure, HbA1C, cholesterol and BMI.

    • Behavioural outcomes include diet, exercise and self efficacy.

    • Activity outcomes include acute utilisations including unscheduled care.

    • Organisational outcomes include capacity issues and interconnectivity of services.

    Do you have any outcomes or results yet? If so, what are they?

    Although early, an interim analysis in October 2006 highlighted the following changes in some key areas.

    Indicator Before After N Average interval between baseline and follow-up measurements Significance
    HbA1C 8.08 7.78 80 113 days 0.02
    Systolic BP 141 133 181 101 days NS
    Total Cholesterol 4.56 4.33 112 138 days 0.006

    Utilisation rates are also showing signs of reduction.

    The full first year evaluation will be available during the summer of 2007.

    Is your project relevant to a government target or guideline?

    Choosing Health 2 , and the Commissioning framework for health and wellbeing 3

    Feedback

    What obstacles did you have to overcome to set up this project?

    Very few. The main issue has been data extraction and the development of a model which identifies the most appropriate patients for the programme.

    What have you learned about the project so far?

    All partners have learned a substantial amount but the main learning point is that people will embrace such a service and it can make a difference to their health status very quickly.

    What would you do differently?

    We would look for a technology approach to the extraction of data.

    References:

    1. Singh D. Transforming Chronic Care: a systematic review of the evidence. Evid Based Cardiovasc Med. 2005; 9:91-4.
    2. Department of Health. Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier. 2004. www.dh.gov.uk (search for 4135, accessed 26 April 2007).
    3. Department of Health. Commissioning framework for health and well-being. 2007. www.dh.gov.uk (search for 7361, accessed 26 April 2007).