Liz Jones, Policy Director, and Beverly Futtit, Director of Digital Transformation at the National Care Forum (NCF), explore how digital innovation, workforce development, and policy advancements are shaping the future of social care.
We know that digital technology is our friend and holds an enormous amount of potential for the social care sector. For some time, many of us have been championing the potential of digital social care and the benefits and transformations it can bring for people who use care and support services and care and support providers alike; and successive recent governments have started to see this potential.
NHS England Digital ran its Social Care Programmei from 2016 to 2021 to improve digital maturity in our sector and the pandemic shone a huge light on the importance of high quality data, data sharing and digital technology for social care. In 2021, we had the Digitising Social Care programmeii, originally part of the People at the Heart of Care white paperiii and intended to build on earlier progress. This three-year programme was extended for a year and made £150m available supporting widespread digitisation across the sector and improving the quality, safety and personalisation of care and support services with a key focus on Digital Social Care Records (DSCRs).
Digital Care Hubiv – previously Digital Social Care – was set up in 2019 for the sector by the sector, as an independent consortium led by care providers to help them understand and implement digital technologies safely and use the care provider voice to influence policy, regulation, funding and tech developments.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on the significant progress of the sector here. Back in 2021 only 40% of providers and 50% of people had a DSCR, now 75% of care providers and 84% of people do. But there is much more to digital transformation than DSCRs. A range of sensor-based monitoring technologies can help improve quality of care, e.g. PainChek to support pain detection, smart watches to monitor gait and falls risk, ambient sensors monitoring respiration rates, heart rates and body temperature. There is smart tech in people’s own homes such as smart speakers to monitor hydration, prompt people to take their medication and provide other reminders. There are even medication dispensing robots!
Then there are digital systems for providers including electronic medication administration systems (eMAR), rostering and payroll systems, AI backed auditing tools, AI backed recruitment and onboarding tools, digital receptionists, food delivery robots and automated/robotic wheels to support movement of equipment or goods around an accommodation-based setting.
Championing innovation through the Care Innovation Challenge
NCF is proud to champion care and support innovation with the Care Innovation Challenge; for example, last year it nurtured Ellyfe’sv wearable hydration monitoring device and Carpe Care’svi groundbreaking digital platform for people living with epilepsy. We took over running the Challenge in 2022 and are proud of how it brings together people from inside and outside the care sector who have a great idea to use innovation to make people’s lives better and pair them up with care sector mentors at the ‘Innovation Weekender’. Participants then pitch their idea to Challenge mentors who choose five to go forward to the final at Care Show in October. Finalists then present their ideas to show delegates who cast votes for their favourite innovation to determine the winner.
Box out: Applications are now open for the 2025 Challenge, and anyone interested in applying can do so by visiting careinnovationhub.org.uk/challenge/
Developing opportunities for our workforce – the Care Technologist
Building on the potential for a much wider use of digital technology in care and support to enable people to live well, with independence, choice and control, we are very excited to be developing the Care Technologist role.
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This is a new professional role in adult social care, created and piloted by Scottish Care in 2022/2023 which bridges the gap between traditional care services and modern technology.
Care Technologists create personalised digital care plans using various technological solutions matched to the specific needs of each individual. Care Technologists will support the initial set up, installation and adoption of digital solutions and remain available to ensure the technology continues to be useful for the individual while assisting with any problems that arise.
After successfully bidding for funding from the Rayne Foundation, NCF will develop and deliver a training programme and resources for this new Care Technologist role over a three-year period from 2024 to 2027. Following a period of piloting the training with a small group of participants we then plan to deliver the training on a funded basis to a total of 90 participants before exploring the potential for offering it more widely on a paid for basis
Digital Leadership Training
NCF also runs the Digital Leadership training programmevii in partnership with Skills for Care.
The programme helps staff who are taking the lead in digital transformation within their organisations to understand the wider context for the digitisation of social care and how we can fully support and take our staff with us on the digital journey. It launched in October 2023 and is available as open access and as commissioned training. It is also eligible for the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme (LDSS) with providers able to claim £510 per person towards the cost of attendance. Information on eligibility and the claims process is available on the DHSC web pageviii.
Looking ahead
The current government has much enthusiasm for the potential of digital technology in solving a range of health and care challenges. Thinking more specifically about social care, the new government shifts from sickness to prevention, hospital to community and analogue to digital all need the active support and participation of the care and support sector. We are a key partner in making those ambitions a reality and having effective digital technology in place will be a cornerstone of that work.
The government is planning to develop new consumer standards for the use of technology in care, so that people drawing on care and support, their families and care providers can access technology solutions with confidence.
There is also a focus on joining up DSCRs and health care data with the government saying the first step already having been taken. As of February, this year all assured supplier DSCR systems will have had GP Connect switched on meaning providers can see a restricted view of the primary care record for the people they support, especially changes in medication. This is to be followed later in the year with an interoperability platform that connects together social care records and provides a single place to connect into NHS systems, including patient records, shared care recordsix and the federated data platformx.
With the Casey Commission coming up, there are important opportunities to influence in relation to longer term policy and investment in digital technology for the care sector. We also have the chance to upskill our workforce so they can embrace and benefit from digital tech. Additionally in building our data analytics and insights capability, we can help them make the best use of the vast amount of data we are now creating.
