A new report has found that only a handful of councils, housing, and care organisations are delivering digital care in people’s homes at scale, to cut hospital admissions, speed up emergency response times, and reduce long waits for formal social care.
Despite evidence that using technology in social care settings keeps people safe, healthy, and happy at home, the report found no large-scale use of digital services.
And, while there are isolated examples of activity, there is little integration within the broader social care and health ecosystem.
Published by the TEC Action Alliance, which respresents over 30 care organisations such as are Care England, Carers UK, Housing LIN, TEC Services Association (TSA) and Think Local Act Personal (TLAP), alongside technology suppliers, the report, Technology-Enabled Lives: Delivering Outcomes for People and Providers, examines barriers to widespread adoption.
One issue is the conflict between shaping digital care around people’s needs and replicating services, economically, at scale.
Over the past five months, the TEC Action Alliance has heard evidence from a range of people who draw on care, along with frontline workers and leaders in care, health, housing, and local government.
And more than 2,000 people were surveyed on their attitudes towards, and use of, technology-enabled care (TEC) and focus groups were held with individuals who have lived experience.
Research into housing associations, councils, and health bodies that use technology to integrate care services has also been conducted.
At a time of immense pressure on NHS and social care services, digital care services can put power in the hands of people, helping them to self manage their own health and live the life they want to lead
The results show that digital social care services reduce ambulance trips to A&E by 68%, help 85% of people remain at home if emergency calls are handled by TEC responder teams, cut emergency response times to 30 mins, and help to refer 40% of people to community services rather than formal social care, compared to 7% pre-pandemic.
But, although the survey results indicate a strong appetite amongst people of all ages to use technology in health and care – 86% said they are likely, or extremely likely, to use it in the future – evidence shows this potential is not yet being realised.
Only 18% of respondents currently use telecare or telehealth services and half of these people use it less than once a week.
Barriers to adoption include safety concerns, a lack of confidence, and perceptions that digital care is expensive.
The report calls on care commissioners and suppliers to listen carefully to what people want and co-produce their services and products with individuals to ensure there is enhanced focus on personal needs.
It also asks that health and care data is shared more widely, with consent, to enable a joined-up response locally.
In addition, the report recommends that care technology is integrated within broader NHS plans around virtual wards and that funding is made available for preventative technology, proactively supporting people at home rather than purely for hospital discharge.
In the next stage of its work, the TEC Action Alliance will identify how to bridge the divide between personalising and scaling services.
And an action paper will be developed to evidence the relationship between engaging people who draw on care and delivering successful outcomes.
This paper is a welcome opportunity to rethink technology-enabled care and what people actually want from it. It is a chance to step back from the equipment, solutions, and systems and re-evaluate what really matters
Alyson Scurfield, chief executive of the TEC Services Association (TSA) and co-chair of the TEC Action Alliance, said: “At a time of immense pressure on NHS and social care services, digital care services can put power in the hands of people, helping them to self manage their own health and live the life they want to lead.
“We’ve found some pockets of good technology-enabled care, but still no national adoption.
“To address this, we must understand how technology-enabled care can be better personalised and scaled.”
Clenton Farquharson MBE, chairman of Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) and co-chair of the TEC Action Alliance, added: “Currently, we talk about digitising social care, health, and housing: re-engineering systems and processes. What I don’t hear about are ‘technology-enabled lives’, where the ambitions and aspirations of the individual come first, made possible by digital.
“This paper is a welcome opportunity to rethink technology-enabled care and what people actually want from it. It is a chance to step back from the equipment, solutions, and systems and re-evaluate what really matters.”
