Using the full potential of technology to put People at the Heart of Care

The recently published Adult Social Care White Paper: People at the Heart of Care has a major focus on using the full potential of technology to support people’s lives and aspirations. You can read our earlier blog on People at the Heart of Care here.

At least £150m of new funding is to be invested to deliver a programme of digital transformation.

It talks of using digital tools to identify risk and prevent incidents from occurring, as well as digital social care records to make the provision of social care more efficient and improve transfers of care and handovers.

Paragraph 4.32 sets out what a digitally enabled social care system would look like from the perspective of:

• People, families and unpaid carers
• Adult social care providers and staff
• Commissioners, Integrated Care Systems and NHS partners
• Industry and innovators

There is a an emphasis on:

• A new scheme to test ideas, scale those where there is proven benefit and build the case for change
• Ensuring that at least 80% of social care providers have a digitised care record in place that can connect to a shared care record
• Supporting care providers in adopting proven technologies with implementation support within each ICS
• Delivering fibre broadband upgrades to those care homes still dependent on poor connections
• Broadening data and cyber security support and driving the uptake of the Data Security and Protection toolkit
• Providing a comprehensive digital learning offer
• Establishing an adult social care data framework by Spring 2022

A social care technology blue print is to be published along with advice on what good looks like for social care technology.