New Sheffield City Council partnership will transform its TEC service

Sheffield City Council has partnered with a community equipment service (CES) provider to help transform the council’s technology-enabled care (TEC) service offer by undertaking co-production activities that will help them develop a new commissioning strategy.

The NRS Healthcare TEC team will work with Sheffield City Council as its service development business partner for TEC.

Alexis Chappell, Strategic Director of Adult Care and Wellbeing Services, commented: “Sheffield’s aim is to become one of the UKs leading health and social care communities in the deployment of TEC, very much supporting people to fulfil their potential for independent living, enabling them to live the life they want to live in a safe environment.

“Our vision is to have a joint TEC Commissioning Strategy which connects Health, Housing, and Social Care, with a new service delivery model that enables the combination of proactive care, reactive care and in-person care, to deliver the best possible outcomes for people in receipt of care at the same time making the best use of available resource.

“To this end we are delighted to be partnering with NRS Healthcare in the transformation of our TEC services, they bring with them wealth of knowledge and experience with a proven track record in the co-design of TEC services.”

The partnership attended its first co-production event, which took place at the end of May as part of Sheffield’s Festival of Involvement in Sheffield United’s ground.

Sheffield’s adult social care Festival of Involvement is a series of conversations with local people about how to work together to shape and improve the council’s services.

NRS Healthcare says event was well attended by health and council staff, people from the voluntary sector, people who draw on care and support, and technology suppliers. Co-design workshops ran throughout the day, giving everyone who attended the chance to have their say.

The initial step in the joint project is to assess the current level of TEC provision within the city and to collate the views of people across Sheffield. The audit will inform the next steps to futureproof the TEC services, with the aim of delivering a personalised, outcome-focused service.

James Lampert, Head of Innovation & Partnerships for TEC at NRS Healthcare, said: “We’re excited to be embarking on this journey of change with Sheffield City Council.

“We are committed to co-design and co-production and will be collaborating with local stakeholders, including people with lived experience to help inform and support the developments. We will be working closely with other stakeholders and have already engaged with hundreds of people working across health, housing, and social care.”

TEC Quality recently awarded ‘compliant’ status across the board of Dudley Council’s telecare service.