Although we live in a time where people manage much of their lives through technology such as smartphones, it is generally agreed that the social care sector has been slow to fully adopt new technology. There are many reasons for this – no doubt cost has a bearing in the decision-making process, but there is also resistance to change from a paper-based system; lack of a holistic integrated care management solution; not to mention the time it would take training staff in how to use it.
The Wachter report ‘Making IT Work’ highlighted that the goal of digitisation of health systems is to promote what has become widely known as healthcare’s Triple Aim: better health, better healthcare, and lower cost. It also recommended that all NHS trusts should achieve a high degree of digitalisation by 2023 or be deemed by the Care Quality Commission to be non-compliant on quality and safety grounds. More recently the NHS Long Term Plan (LTP), published in 2019 contained the expectation that digitally-enabled care should go mainstream across the NHS, and that all providers need to advance to a core level of digitalisation by 2024.
In the social care sector, many providers have taken tentative steps towards digitalisation. Software packages offering care planning, rota management, and accounting solutions have been available for some time, and these packages can sometimes be synchronised. But full digitalisation in one holistic package seemed a long way off.
In our blog, ‘10 Reasons to go Fully Digital in Social Care’ we highlighted the significant advantages for providers who embrace technology. Two of the main reasons were that by spending less time on administration, staff can spend more time with residents – after all, no-one joins the care sector just to fill in paperwork. At a time when many people are lonely (according to Age UK, more than a million older people say they go for over a month without speaking to a friend, neighbour or family member), digitalisation can help social care to offer more human interaction. This interaction is not restricted to staff and residents, as technology such as MS Teams, Zoom, WhatsApp and FaceTime can also help residents and families stay in touch.
With the increasing digitalisation of the health service, social care must keep pace so that the IT systems of both can communicate seamlessly. Digital care plans and resident records are not only easier to maintain and update than paper versions, but also mean that data pertaining to a resident’s health, nutrition and medication can be shared quickly and accurately between the two. This will lead to better outcomes for the resident either when they are moving to a care home for the first time, or when they require medical interventions whilst living there. Taking technology in social care to the next level, the use of Artificial Intelligence (Ai) offers care providers the opportunity to monitor residents’ wellbeing, including vital signs, and therefore give a higher level of care than has previously been possible.
The digitalisation of a care facility doesn’t have to stop at resident records, medication, and staff rotas. A holistic software system will also include other aspects of care home life, such as activities and maintenance. The Activities Co-ordinator could plan their events online and record who took part, thereby giving an indication of which residents are and are not socialising. Similarly, digital recording of regular and planned maintenance will avoid unwelcome property issues.
The new technology being introduced to the sector has the potential to change the way care is not only monitored but also how it is delivered, and PredicAire is leading the way in this revolution. It is the first holistic care software, and uses Ai technology to provide market-leading diagnostic data.
As we said at the outset, although social care has taken some steps towards digitalisation it is a long way away from fully embracing the technology. Yet the pressures of funding and staffing mean that efficient and effective systems have never been more vital. The costs of introducing new software, and training staff to use it, must be weighed against the costs of doing nothing. The Care Quality Commission has made encouraging innovation an explicit priority in its strategy and, writing in its blog, Executive Director of Strategy and Intelligence Dr Malte Gerhold says that CQC is working to improve some of its ways of working so that it can better assess and recognise new technology where it is already deployed in care services.
It’s an exciting time to be in social care, and PredicAire’s technology has the potential to shape the future of the sector. Will you be one of the first to join us on our journey?
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