Technology could cut emergency admissions

A new report argues that the NHS could cut emergency admission costs by £1 billion, through better use of medical technology. Leading medical practitioners, patient groups, and industry leaders are joining Virendra Sharma MP in calling for the Government to tackle the issue.

Unplanned admissions account for more than a third – 5.4 million – of all hospital admissions (15.5 million) and two-thirds of all hospital bed days (HSCIC), while emergency admissions cost the NHS £11 billion in 2010/11 alone (Nuffield Trust). These pressures on the NHS are also increasing – unplanned admissions to hospitals in England rose by 30% between 2003/04 and 2013/14 (HSCIC).

However, the cost of emergency hospital admissions could be dramatically cut through the better use of medical technology, in just three clinical areas, according to a recent report based on data obtained from every acute Trust and Clinical Commissioning Group in England. Research by the Medical Technology Group, a coalition of patient groups, research charities and medical device manufacturers, looked at three conditions: heart failure, diabetes and urinary tract infections (UTIs). It found that unplanned admissions for these conditions alone affected nearly 400,000 patients a year, with a combined cost of just over £1 billion.