Gavin Bashar, UK Managing Director at Tunstall Healthcare, discusses why adopting the right technology is crucial to transforming health and care services.
As our ageing population grows, the demands on adult social care services are only set to increase. Local authorities spent £22 billion on adult social care in 2021-22, and there were almost two million requests for adult social care support from nearly 1.4 million new service users.
Although this growth can generate unprecedented pressures on our health and care systems, there are a multitude of ways in which advances in digital technology are on the brink of delivering a potentially transformative impact.
However, while progress has been made and the possibility of transforming care through adopting technology is still achievable, bureaucracy and organisational challenges have limited providers in their ability to make significant changes. There are three core areas where professionals can work together with tech providers to begin targeting investment in digital solutions.
Enabling the right systems and solutions
Integrated telecare systems offer new frameworks through which innovation can be adopted at scale, streamlining past previous bureaucratic barriers and adopting a transformation-led approach. Technology-driven solutions that are increasingly proactive and predictive, have the potential to revolutionise how services are run with data and actionable insight.
Data plays a particularly powerful role in empowering citizens to manage their own conditions. Robust methodologies for analysing and using data effectively that improve decision-making need to be designed, to ensure data is held securely and privacy is not compromised.
Technology providers working collaboratively with local authorities should consider how technology solutions will operate with those of local strategic partnerships. Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) can play an important role in the coordination of services, and will need to be at the forefront of strategic planning and co-commissioning strategies.
Delivering quality care to citizens
Keeping people at home for longer and away from frontline services is the optimum goal for all stakeholders involved in care provision. Quality of life is improved for individuals, whilst financial benefits and resources can be maximised. Adopting technology can be a principal driver of improvement in the prevention sphere, particularly when devices that provide direct-to-user equipment are invested in.
Forward-thinking strategies that heavily involve technology providers will likely include different ways to commission technology, and will clearly articulate the functionality that is required as part of the commissioning process. This in turn will provide an overview during the design, delivery and development stages when confirming what support is required by service providers and their citizens.
Technology in practice
In October 2018, Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) established a managed telecare service. This saw specialist digital solutions established in the homes of vulnerable people, including telecare sensors, to provide individualised support.
The response centre monitors connections and refers to the NCC Responder Team, nominated contacts, or the emergency services as appropriate. The service uses a tracking process in MOSAIC and NCC’s Business Intelligence Hub to measure key outcomes for individuals receiving the service.
Between October 2018 and December 2019, net cash avoidance savings to NCC after service costs, costs of home care for people diverted from residential care, and the loss of client contributions were deducted were £2,243,665. Other results included:
- 289 cases where a high and immediate risk of admission to residential care was delayed/avoided.
- 739 cases where a delayed transfer of care was avoided.
- 250 cases where a high risk of carer breakdown was delayed/avoided.
- 655 cases where additional community care costs were avoided.
Embedding change
If technology providers work closely with high-performing authorities and other social care providers, they will be able to drive strategies forward that understand and encompass technology solutions. If technology is placed front and centre of any strategy for change, this is likely to provide the best route to enhance the capacity of adult social care services and therefore also healthcare.
By collaborating effectively and co-creatively, technology suppliers and service providers can ensure that both understand the ultimate aim in embedding digital solutions within services. This needs effective communication between all parties, for example ensuring citizens and their families are consulted when developing digital strategies.
We can also engage with central government to drive this agenda through consistent, collaborative working and messaging. By emphasising the need for strong leadership and partnership, this vital rhetoric will contribute to the government continuing to take up the reform agenda and transform care services through technology.