The UK has set out plans for investment and reforms that will harness care technology and a new digital platform for information sharing to improve adult social care.
The reforms are aimed at supporting adult social care, helping older people to live at home for longer, and will create new national standards to ensure providers and families are using the best care technology.
The government will also develop a shared digital platform to allow medical information to be shared between the NHS and care staff, including when someone last took their medication.
The immediate plans are part of a wider, long-term plan for social care reform, and are backed by a total of £711m investment that will help to reduce hospitalisations and enable up to 7,800 more disabled and elderly people to live more independent lives.
National standards for care technology
The plans will set out new national standards aimed at helping care providers know which technologies are fit for purpose, secure and able to connect with wider NHS and social care systems in the future. They will also help technology suppliers know where to invest.
Examples of such technology include sensor-based technologies that can prevent and reduce the impact of falls, enabling people to live independently for longer and decreasing demand on the NHS and social care.
This care tech is already being used by more than 1.7 million people, and the government has said it will go further by making it easier for families to identify and agree which technologies will work best for an elderly person.
Through this approach, families and care providers can work more closely to integrate assisted technologies into care plans to help keep patients living at home independently rather than in hospital.
Digital data sharing
Health and care services by will also be joined up through digital systems through a shared platform.
This will enable health and care staff to access real-time social care, GP and hospital data, with the aim for all care providers to be fully digitised, and for staff to have access to essential medical information in a timely way.
As part of the plans to join up health and care services, care workers will also be supported to take on further duties to deliver health interventions, such as blood pressure checks, meaning people can receive more routine checks and care at home without needing to travel to healthcare settings.
NHS chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, said: “A long-term solution for social care is absolutely critical as we build an NHS that is fit for the future through the 10 Year Health Plan, so we really welcome the additional investment to services as well as the independent commission into social care.
“Social care has a huge impact on the NHS, with thousands of people in hospitals who are medically fit for discharge the current strain the sector is under has significant consequences for both NHS productivity and performance, so we hope this vital action plan and commitment to create a national care service will both help better support people and ease pressure on hospital wards.”