The Department Health and Social Care has opened a market engagement, seeking input from care technology suppliers, innovators, and start-ups to support the development and implementation of new national standards for care technology.
The call for input follows the government’s announcement of new reforms around adult social care in January, which promised that “thousands more people with disabilities” would be supported to remain in their homes thanks to “immediate action” from the government to improve adult social care, support the care workforce, and “take pressure off the NHS”.
As well as additional funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant taking the total for the next financial year to £711 million and reportedly allowing “7,800 more disabled and elderly people to make vital improvements to their home, allowing them to live more independent lives and reducing hospitalisations”; the government committed to support adult social care to harness the power of technology to “transform care”. It also shared plans to develop a “shared digital platform” to allow medical information to be shared between the NHS and care staff.
Whilst the DHSC highlights that there is “no procurement currently planned”, it notes that those contributing their input will be playing “a vital role in developing policies that promote the adoption of high-quality care technology, ensuring greater independence and improved quality of life for individuals”.
Following a review of the feedback received, the department plans to hold roundtable discussions with relevant suppliers. Care providers, family, unpaid carers, and those who draw on care, will also be engaged “via other engagement routes”.
Priorities across health and care
For a recent HTN Now panel discussion, we were joined by experts from across the health sector to dissect the findings from Lord Darzi’s report, including the need to move more care out into the community, the role of digital and tech in driving change, supporting a focus on prevention and promoting integrated care. Panellists included Lee Rickles, CIO, director & deputy SIRO at Humber Teaching Hospitals; Andrew Jones, digital transformation leader at Amazon Web Services; Tracy McClelland, CCIO at Dedalus; and Dan Bunstone, clinical director at Warrington Innovation Network and Warrington ICB.
We also covered reactions from a range of stakeholders from across the health and technology sector. We asked for thoughts on the report’s findings and the “missed opportunities” Lord Darzi highlights from analysis of the past ten years, and look ahead to the ways technology can help secure the future of the NHS.
In October 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care launched an open call for comment on ideas for change within health and care as part of the 10 Year Health Plan. Since then, over 11,000 ideas have been put forward, with the most liked suggestion focusing on the accessibility of digital records. Posted by Ben Bradley, the idea suggests that “records from ALL hospitals should be available to view at ALL GP surgeries” and currently has 2,216 upvotes, the highest for an idea suggested so far, and 98 comments. Many of these comments echo the same sentiments, with others suggesting that interoperability should extend to all NHS providers, not just GP practices.
