In 2022/23 the Digitising Social Care Fund (part of the NHS Transformation Directorate) made £25m available to support the adult social care sector in digitising.
The fund has been made available with three main aims:
The funding for individual organisations needs to be applied for via your ICS with the commitment to grow your digital records and improve services.
Why is this important?
We know that technology has the power to transform the quality and safety of care, yet around 30% of social care providers are still using entirely paper-based systems.
In addition to this, only 45% of social care providers have any form of digital care records, and 60% are still using internet connections which are unable to facilitate full digital transformation.
Digital Social Care Records (DSCR)
The first objective is part of the wider DSCR Programme that’s tasked with ensuring that 80% of CQC registered adult social care providers have a digital provision in place by 2024.
Those who implement DSCR will be able to share information between providers faster and will be less prone to error, leading to better (and more personalised) care for individuals. It’ll also dramatically reduce the administrative burden on care teams, many of whom are already stretched for resources.
High-speed internet
Faster connectivity lays the foundations for success when it comes to digitising social care records. With almost two-thirds of care providers having inadequate internet services – it’s clear that this must be addressed first.
With a robust solution in place, care providers will reap the rewards for years to come. This will help when embedding further technologies to support the running of care services. Think workforce management technologies which help ensure the right care givers, are in the right place, at the right time and cost.
Furthermore, there are plenty of benefits to engagement and communication that will be useful for staff and those in care.
Fall technologies
Last, but by no means least – are fall technologies.
Falls cost the NHS around £2bn per year. So, it’s no surprise that the adoption of acoustic monitoring is vital, given that it’s able to reduce falls in care homes and subsequently hospital admission by 20%.
Conclusion
At the core of the Digitising Social Care Fund is a desire to facilitate better care and drive financial efficiencies for both care providers and the NHS.
For too long, health and social care policy has been disparate – so it’s great to see a joined-up approach that can benefit everyone involved.
We’re excited to follow the journey of care providers as they reach digital maturity – and hope to be an integral part of the next stage of rapid digitisation, which we believe should focus on staff management.
We’ll be discussing this and more in our next webinar on 21 March: 3 things to do to prepare for the digitisation of social care. Click the button below to join.
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