In its Next steps to Put people at the Heart of Care publication, the UK government outlined its plans to digitise social care by investing £100 million over the next two years.

The plan builds upon the 2021 People at the Heart of Care white paper which detailed a series of policy commitments, including the aim to get 80% of CQC-registered care services to adopt a digital social care record by March 2024.

A digital social care record allows information to be shared securely and in real-time between care services and NHS colleagues.

The funding also follows the launch of the Better Care Fund framework, which aims to improve social care services over the next ten years with £16.8bn to be invested.

The Next steps to put People at the Heart of Care explains that so far nearly £50 million has been spent to support digitisation and ensure good data and cyber security practices across care services in England.

Since the original white paper was released in 2021, compliance with the Data Security & Protection Toolkit (DSPT) has increased from 39% to 58% of care services. There has also been an estimate 10% uptake in digital social care records.

Over the next two years the government has committed £100 million to:

• Increase adoption of digital social care records so that client information can be shared across services.
• Test and implement new technologies that improve the quality and outcomes of care.
• Support care services to improve digital skills, digital readiness, and cyber security to help grow the sector’s confidence.

For 2023/24, funding will be available to support the adoption of digital social care records. This is in line with the previous health and social care secretary, Sajid Javid’s, mission to move 80% of all care workers away from paper-based records by 2024.

Using data is also a central part of the initiative – using health and social care data to deliver better, more personalised outcomes and insights in an effort to tailor and streamline care.

Recommended

• Can a Scottish Crypto Help the Third Sector?
• Gartner: Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 5.5% in 2023
• Tech Unrest: 3 in 4 UK Tech Workers Dissatisfied at Work

This would not just include how data is used, but how it is shared across the sector, making it easier for care providers and local authorities to access and use the data they need to support care provision.

Health minister Helen Whately said: “By 2025, we will have achieved real change for adult social care. We will have shifted the dial on recognition and support for the skills of care workers, driven digitalisation and innovation in social care provision, and changed how social care is planned for and commissioned. This will be backed by increased accountability through better data insights and local authority assessments.”