Helping South West care homes to benefit from digital care planning systems 

The South West AHSN is working with NHS Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB) to support adult social care providers in the county to adopt Digital Social Care Records (DSCRs). 

Funding will be available to care providers to help them access digital solutions that will benefit those in receipt of services, their families, and the staff who care for them. 

The aim is for 80% of care homes and domiciliary care organisations in Devon to be digitised by March 2024. 

Becoming digitalised brings many advantages to care homes, from more efficient daily management to better communication within workforces and less administration so that staff can spend more time caring for residents. 

A list of approved suppliers is available so that care providers can choose the digital solution that is right for them. Extra guidance is also offered via the Assured Supplier Decision Making tool.    

The South West AHSN will be facilitating weekly online drop-ins where care providers can meet with suppliers to discuss the technology on offer and ask any questions they may have. 

All of the systems provide a range of services such as: 

• Effective and efficient processes for care providers to manage their business or organisation with a whole host of functionality in one place 
• Support with CQC inspections and evidence gathering as well as reporting capabilities 
• Easy ways to manage rotas, handovers, log medication, activities and visits, as well as care planning support, communication with GP surgeries and prompt responses to urgent care  

Longer-term benefits and opportunities 

Digitalisation within adult social care will deliver long-term benefits for the health and care sector. These include: 

• Improving the quality of care for residents and patients 
• Greater transparency with patients/residents and their relatives in how care records are used 
• Assisting individuals to remain independent for longer 
• Improving the quality and efficiency of information sharing between health and social care 

The implementation of technological solutions will also mean more opportunities to enhance personalised care services in the future.

Eligibility for funding 

To be eligible for funding, care providers need to: 

• Work with the project to choose a suitable supplier from a list of NHSE assured suppliers. 
• Attain Data Security and Protection Toolkit accreditation in full 
• Have an active NHS mail account 
• Have a CQC number 
• Implement an approved Digital (DSCR) system 
• Provide an agreed set of quarterly impact statistics to the project on a set date 

Online drop-in sessions are taking place every Tuesday from May to 1 August,10-11am, for providers to learn more about the opportunities offered by digitalisation. You can register here.  

If you have any questions, please contact Nikki Taylor, Programme Lead at the South West AHSN, at disc@swahsn.com. 

The Devon project is part of a national digitalisation programme that is also being rolled out in Cornwall and Somerset. Care providers in these areas wanting to learn more can contact their local Digital Social Care teams on contractsadults@cornwall.gov.uk or digitisationinsocialcare@somerset.gov.uk 

More details on Digital Social Care are available on the national website here.