Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is developing a digital strategy for social care users.
The Government recognises the transformative potential of digital technology for people who draw on adult social care. While the Department is not developing a digital strategy for social care users at this time, we are taking forward immediate reforms to ensure that people who draw on care benefit from digital transformation. These reforms build on progress to drive adoption of digital social care records, which now benefit 85% of people who draw on adult social care, as well as Government-funded testing, scaling, and evaluation of care technologies to help people live independently for longer.
We are developing new standards and guidance for care technologies to improve the confidence of people who draw on care, their loved ones, and care providers, to purchase effective and compatible products.
We are also developing new national data infrastructure for social care, which will lay the foundations for staff to access real-time information from health and care services. This will enable the right people to access the right information at the right time, which is key to ensuring people receive safe, personalised care, without having to repeat themselves multiple times to different health and care professionals. We aim for all care providers to be fully digitised by the end of the Parliament.
To support the digitisation of adult social care, we have produced a digital skills learning offer. By developing the digital skills, confidence, and capabilities of the adult social care workforce, we can empower them to support the people drawing on care to choose the care technology that is right for them.
We are continuing our work with delivery partners to support local authorities in digitising adult social care assessments. This support is helping local authorities improve the timeliness and efficiency of assessments. Where digital tools have been trialled, evaluations have shown that people drawing on care and support have experienced quicker assessments, leading to reduced waiting times.