The chief executive of TSA, the national advisory body for the technology enabled care (TEC) sector, has been honoured by His Majesty the King in the 2026 Birthday Honours List.
Alyson Scurfield has been appointed an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) by King Charles III in recognition of her services to Technology Enabled Care.
Since 2013, Alyson has led the TEC Services Association (TSA), which represents over 350 organisations that commission and provide TEC services, including councils, housing associations, care providers and technology suppliers.
She has transformed TSA from a traditional association of manufacturers to a collaborative advisory body that puts people, families and carers first and works closely with governments and regulators across the UK.
The honours list, published by the government on Saturday, 13 June is granted by the King to deserving people from all walks of life, in public recognition of their merit, service or bravery.
Alyson’s leadership has created safer, more effective TEC services for the 2 million people who use it in the UK. In 2017 she set up the UKAS accredited Quality Standards Framework (QSF) to address the lack of regulation and legislation in place around TEC safety. Today, 87% of people using TEC are supported by QSF-certified providers with the framework robustly auditing TEC providers against 200 standards.
Following the deaths of two TEC users after their landlines were switched to digital, Alyson worked closely with the government on a Telecare National Action Plan, and she built strong partnerships between telecoms companies and TEC organisations to ensure safe digital migrations going forward. She also launched the Virtual Home, a lifelike house improving TEC knowledge. Over 9,000 care staff have used it, and 95% say they now feel more confident prescribing TEC.
Alyson has strengthened TEC commissioning across health and care, leading the creation – in partnership with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) – of a free blueprint, downloaded by over 700 council staff, to scale digital preventative services.
Alongside her role at TSA, Alyson chairs Age UK North Tyneside. Before TSA, she worked in TEC for 11 years at housing association, Your Homes Newcastle and before that at Newcastle City Council as customer services manager.
Alyson Scurfield, CEO of TSA, said: “I am overwhelmed to receive this honour for services to TEC. I love this sector and believe passionately in the impact it has. Every single day TEC organisations cut pressure on the NHS, they strengthen community-based care and ensure millions of people live well in their own homes.
“This honour is recognition of the brilliant TSA team who have supported me so much, and crucially, it’s acknowledgement of our talented, highly innovative TEC sector. Their dedication to improving people’s lives never ceases to amaze me.
“I will use this OBE to continue banging the drum for technology enabled care and the vital role it can and must play in the future of health and care – supporting the government’s 10 Year Health Plan and its three strategic shifts.”
Professor Martin Green OBE, chair of TSA and CEO of Care England, said: “I am delighted that Alyson has been honoured by the King with the award of an OBE. This is not only recognition for the outstanding leadership that Alyson has offered to TSA, and the technology enabled care sector, but it is also an indicator of the importance of her work at a time of significant health and social care reform.”
Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE, associate director of Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) said: “I am absolutely delighted that Alyson Scurfield has been awarded an OBE. She has always understood that TEC is not about technology for its own sake. It is about people. It is about enabling people to live the lives they choose, with dignity, independence, connection, meaning and purpose.
“Her work has helped shift the conversation from devices and systems to real lives and real outcomes. She has consistently championed the idea that technology must sit alongside care, relationships and humanity, helping people to stay connected, safe, included and in control.
This Honour recognises not only Alyson’s personal contribution, but also the importance of putting people and their lives at the very heart of technology enabled care.”
