22nd February 2022
research
Care Tech Sector Analysis
This is the final part of our series, bringing all the learning of our four technology landscape reviews together.
The health and care sectors are in a state of great change. The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed hugely, and many long-standing concerns have been further highlighted by the pandemic. At the same time, technology and innovation are driving changes in delivery and creating new opportunities for health and care.
At the time of writing, the UK is in a complex social and political position. Brexit is ongoing and national inequalities in health and wealth are essential issues needing to be resolved. Research and development (R&D) and innovation are being put at the centre of Levelling Up policy, with new attempts at creating more equality for the future of health and social care.
Since this series of reviews started, we have had two spending reviews, both of which allocated considerable amounts of funding to social care. However, there is a great deal of progress that needs to be made before the intended benefits will be felt by people. The care sector touches many people’s lives at some point, either directly as a service user or through supporting a user. There are gaps in funding and disparities in access to care, as well as an insufficient number of care workers to provide care.
Many of the policy interventions highlighted as part of the solution for care. However, public interest, private investment, and government intervention all need to play a role in funding and delivering change in the sector. As we will see throughout this report there are many novel and exciting solutions which can help address some of the problems the sector is facing. Technology is a tool to improve quality and access, it is vital to the success of the sector. However, there are many system-wide challenges which need to be address at the same time.
This report is a sector analysis based on the four installments from 2020-2021, alongside policy and literature analysis and insights from stakeholder events. The recommendations highlight opportunities to progress the sector and deliver high quality care outcomes for all people.
