Digital revolution in social care to bring £127m of future improvements

Projects driven by the expansion of the use of digital technology in social care are expected to lead to £127m worth of benefits.

Analysis of NHS Digital’s Social Care Programme found that new ways of working will reduce hospital admissions and GP visits, as well as improve quality of life.

The programme aimed to harness the power of information and technology to help England’s social care sector care for people more and effectively and efficiently.

It started in 2016, had an investment of £23m, and has funded over 100 projects including the development of apps, the roll out of new robotic technology to help carers and tools to reduce the risk of falls.

Other innovations included:

• An Electronic Red Bag to replace the physical ‘red bag’, which accompanies someone when they go into hospital from their residential care or nursing home. The eRedBag contains a standardised set of information about health and care, such as medications, medical history, personal preferences and information about safeguarding.
• Remote monitoring technology which monitors care home residents, particularly through the night, to alert staff to unusual movements or people calling for help. Participating care homes saw a large reduction in falls and in one case, could give immediate help to a resident who had suffered a cardiac arrest during the night.

James Palmer, Programme Head of the Social Care Programme at NHS Digital, said:

“We are delighted to see the impact that digital technology introduced through our programme has already had on people’s lives and the multitude of benefits it will bring in the years to come, both on individuals and on the wider health and social care sector.

“Our approach throughout has been led by users of the services and we have worked collaboratively with care providers and local authorities, which has given us high confidence they can deliver outcomes and benefits for those commissioning, providing and receiving care.”

Alice Ainsworth, Deputy Director for Social Care Tech Policy at NHSX, said: “This programme has demonstrated the huge potential benefits of technology in improving the quality of care people receive in the adult social care sector.

“We want to see many more people benefit from digital transformation and are focused on ensuring digital social care records are adopted across the sector by March 2024.

Future Care Capital’s Care Tech Landscape Review is available here.