Giant leap in digitising adult social care
Safely and effectively sharing information between health and social care organisations is essential to delivering truly integrated care – which is better, safer and more personalised to the individual, and will help ease the burden on hard-pressed health and care professionals.
The adult social care sector employs more than 1.5 million people – more than the NHS - through a combination of public, private and third sector provision.
When the Digitising Social Care (DiSC) programme launched 2 years ago, just 40% of adult social care providers were digital first. The majority were using paper-based care planning systems.
Designed to transform adult social care through digital innovation, the DiSC programme is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and is delivered by a joint team of DHSC and NHS England colleagues.
By offering clear advice and guidance to the social care sector about the benefits and ways to make the switch to digital, the DiSC programme is supporting care providers in everything from accessing funding and choosing suppliers to using a single set of standard data definitions. This is key to the successful use of digital social care records, which mean better, safer and more personalised care for everyone.
The DiSC programme has put adult social care providers, and the people they care for, at the heart of its work. So, if you’re a hard-pressed registered care manager keen to embrace digital technologies, but short of time to plan and implement it – the DiSC team is here to help. They offer strategic advice and guidance, practical how-to guides and assuring and listing approved suppliers of digital care record solutions, to reduce the research burden on providers.
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Now more than 60% of care providers have a digital social care record solution – enabling staff to operate far more efficiently and effectively. The benefits include improved access to information, less time spent by care staff on admin and more time to devote to the people in their care, and the ability to generate, analyse and share data, both within the organisation and with partners. The ability to safely share relevant information between health and social care organisations is fundamental to delivering person-centred care.
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For information and advice visit supporting social care providers to go digital.