News

The National Institute for Health Research has awarded at grant of £2million to NHS Direct to explore the way it helps people with long term health conditions could be transformed.

A team at University of Bristol, will undertake a five year research programme to find out the type of services that people with long term conditions (LTCs) would like NHS Direct to provide and the types of people who would find this most useful. The researchers will then develop suitable services and test whether they work.

The research programme will focus on patients at high risk of having a heart attack or stroke and patients with depression, as examples of two different types of long term condition. The researchers will review all the best international evidence available about the role of telehealth in LTCs to develop ideas about how NHS Direct might usefully improve care for LTCs.

They will interview people with LTCs about ways in which NHS Direct could help them to look after themselves and also interview health professionals about how it could help them manage LTCs. Patients at high risk of stroke or heart attack and patients with depression will also be asked about difficulties they have accessing care, their needs, and the types of care they would like from NHS Direct. The researchers will then identify the types of people most likely to benefit from NHS Direct care for LTCs.

www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/article.aspx?name=ResearchGrant