Report suggests greater use of digital technology is a crucial step in reforming social care

Tunstall Healthcare and County Councils Network (CCN) have published a report, which argues that the potential of technology to support those with social care needs is growing ‘exponentially’ each year.

This new report follows the 2021 report ‘Employing Assistive Technology in Adult Social Care’, also delivered by CCN and Tunstall Healthcare. It looks into the impact of digital technology on adult social care and the importance of implementing digital change across the care landscape.

‘Adopting the right technology to transform social care’, written by experts from both organisations, was unveiled to stakeholders, decisionmakers, and Tunstall Healthcare clients in a digital webinar on 2 February.

The event was hosted by Tunstall Healthcare and CCN, alongside Councillor Martin Tett, Leader of Buckinghamshire Council, who chaired the panel, and James Bullion, Executive Director of Adult Social Care Services, Norfolk, who provided a local authority perspective.

Cllr Martin Tet said: “The adult social care sector faces many challenges, but there are effective solutions that can help to bring efficiency, ease the burden on staff and ensure targeted care for those who need it. This new report sets a precedent for implementing technological advancements within social care services and provides an informative guide for how to create lasting, positive change at a community level.”

As well as transforming services, the report finds that digital transformation can hugely benefit care users, from allowing more independence to widening understanding around condition management and reducing anxiety.

Tunstall’s work with CCN has detailed a strategic pathway to adopting digital technologies effectively into the care sector, from enabling local authorities, through to ensuring smooth delivery of care and finally, embedding the change for good.

Simon Edwards, Director of the CCN, added: “This report is the natural sibling of our previous work with Tunstall in 2021. Perhaps most importantly, this piece discusses how we get the right care to the right people, the right devices and technology into people’s homes, and how we can support an ageing population with a stretched workforce.”

Practical steps recommended in the report include not underestimating the time it takes to embed change; thinking about what good procurement processes look like from a market perspective; and working in partnership with providers to deliver effective technology-enabled care (TEC) and data-led practice.

Gavin Bashar, Managing Director of Tunstall UK&I, said: “The adoption of digital technology has great potential to contribute to the smooth running of adult social care services as we look to the new government reforms for the care sector. This new report provides a summary of some of the benefits offered by care technology as well as practical suggestions for the implementation of these changes.”

Read the full report here.