New alliance to increase co-production and break down silos in TEC sector

Two national care bodies have joined forces to ensure that assistive technology suppliers and care providers involve people, families, and carers more closely in the design and development of digital care services and products.

The TEC Action Alliance has been set up by Think Local Action Personal (TLAP), a partnership dedicated to making health and care more personalised, and the TEC Services Association (TSA), the representative body for technology-enabled care (TEC) services across the UK.

The alliance aims to put, centre stage, the voice of people who draw on care, so technology-enabled systems and solutions are “truly” co-produced and person-centred.

It will do this by bringing together public, private and voluntary sector organisations, connecting them with government departments, and making sure that all conversations and decision-making involves people who use health, care and housing services.

The TEC Action Alliance will work with local government, the NHS, and integrated care systems (ICSs), along with umbrella bodies in the disability rights, health, social care and housing sectors, looking at how assistive technology can be harnessed to support the delivery of personalised, quality care that is affordable.

Jeremy Hughes CBE, former Alzheimer’s Society CEO, has been appointed as director of the TEC Action Alliance, reporting to Co-Chairs Clenton Farquharson MBE, Chair of TLAP, and Alyson Scurfield, CEO of the TSA.

Jeremy Hughes CBE, Director of the TEC Action Alliance, commented: “It’s all too easy for people in health and care to work in silos, whether that’s government departments, industry, public or voluntary sector bodies.

“The TEC Action Alliance seeks to change this by convening people and organisations who don’t normally work with each other to harness the potential of technology. We’ll be helping industry best develop the technology to support personalised care and working alongside government to ensure their policy priorities are turned into action.”

Priorities of the TEC Action Alliance will be set quarterly by people, families and carers, along with member organisations and corporate partners. Initial focus areas include working with ICSs as they support local people with assistive technology to live happily and safely in their homes.

Clenton Farquharson MBE, Chair of Think Local Act Personal and Co-Chair of the TEC Action Alliance, said: “This alliance represents an opportunity to genuinely co-produce digital services, so they focus on the true aspirations, ambitions and wants of people who draw on care – rather than the latest products or the needs we think people have.

“We will create new ways to ensure that power and decision-making around care and support is shared equally with individuals, their families and carers.”

Another priority of the alliance will be preparations for the 2025 analogue to digital switchover, which will affect people who use TEC and organisations that provide TEC services.

Recently, Taking Care became the country’s first TEC provider to complete full testing of its product range before the planned switchover from analogue to digital telephone networks.

Alyson Scurfield, CEO of TSA and Co-Chair of the TEC Action Alliance, added: “Giving people control of their own lives is the central purpose of this new Alliance. Technology has a major role to play in this, helping people to live in the place they call home, with the people they love, doing the things that matter to them. I’m excited to be working with some very forward-thinking organisations who want to make this a reality.”

A range of corporate partners are funding the alliance, including Tunstall Healthcare, CareTech, Microsoft, Taking Care, Home Instead, and more.