Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 17 May 2023.

The What Good Looks Like framework and digital skills framework will support staff, providers and local authorities to benefit from new technology.

• Social care professionals to be supported to develop digital skills and drive digital transformation across the sector
• Guidance will set standard for digital transformation of adult social care in providing quality care
• People at home and in care settings to be better supported to reduce hospital admissions through new technology

Social care employers will be better able to equip their staff with the skills required to benefit from new technologies, enhancing patient care and providing staff with career development opportunities, thanks to new guidance published today.

To complement this, guidance for care providers and local authorities has also been issued, to set a standard for care and support settings when switching to using digital technology, such as virtual 24/7 monitoring centres to provide quick and instantaneous support.

For those working in adult social care, the digital skills framework will provide a structure in which new skills can be developed. This will ensure innovative technology is being put to the best possible use to enhance care, for example systems that allow a care professional to access a resident’s information from GP records through a digital social care record, to support their care from hospital to home.

Staff will be given training on how to use the technology which will include virtual care centres – where people drawing on care can access a care worker virtually for help and reassurance 24/7. This will give those needing care more autonomy and independence in their own homes by eliminating the need for reoccurring or overnight checks.

In some cases, care settings may choose to use the new structure to support staff in implementing new artificial intelligence (AI) monitoring technology which helps to reduce falls by tracking the movements of those receiving care.

The guidance covers 7 key themes including using and managing data, how to use technology for person-centred care and supporting a culture of good practice in using technology for personalised care.

Minister for Care Helen Whately said:

Technology embedded into care and support can be transformative both for people who need care and staff in the sector.

Innovative technology in care settings improves care and can increase the time that care workers spend with the people they care for.

The guidance and standards published today will give social care staff the support they need to improve their digital capabilities.

Sonia Patel, System Chief Information Officer at NHS England, said:

This new guidance is a significant step in ensuring our digital ‘north star’ is clear in all health and care settings, helping reduce health inequalities in every community in England. We’ve worked closely with social care colleagues to provide the What Good Looks Like guidance for adult social care, building on the framework we’ve already published for integrated care systems and providers which we’ll be updating later this year.

Alongside the digital skills framework, guidance for care providers and local authorities has also been published targeted at those who have a responsibility for digital transformation in local areas – such as digital leads, directors of adult social services, commissioners and service managers.

Developed with support from the Local Government Authority (LGA) and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) (who are Partners in Care and Health as well as sector stakeholders), the What Good Looks Like guidance encourages smart foundations and safe practice of technology in care settings so the right technology can be used to benefit local people.

Professor Vic Rayner OBE, Chief Executive of the National Care Forum, said:

The delivery of great quality, safe and person-centred care is the number one priority for all care providers. Digital approaches to the delivery of care should complement this work of care professionals and many innovative providers are already leading the way in driving this digital transformation, supported by teams who are digitally skilled and confident.

The publication of both the digital skills framework as well as the What Good Looks Like guidance will be essential resources in the journey towards ensuring all providers and people who receive care and support services can benefit from a digitised adult social care sector.

Councillor David Fothergill, chair of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:

This guidance is designed to support local authorities and care providers of all sizes and types to modernise and improve the way they deliver care, such as expanded social care record systems in their areas. It will help support staff and put in place a better system that frees up more time for care.

Digitising social care is one of the key components of the Partners in Care and Health programme, delivered in partnership by the LGA and ADASS. It aims to help councils to improve the way they deliver adult social care, through developing and sharing best practice, providing support and building connections.

What Good Looks Like gives organisations and local authorities a standard to meet when seeking opportunities to modernise and improve the quality of care in their area through technology interventions such as the digital care record.

The guidance builds on the NHS England What Good Looks Like framework which provides clear guidance across 7 success measures for health and care leaders to digitise, connect and transform services safely and securely.

It provides a series of common goals to work towards that will help achieve the vision set out in People at the Heart of Care. It is an aspirational framework designed to be used by local authorities and care providers of all sizes and types of service, including both Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered and non-registered providers.

Digitising social care is part of the government’s recently published Next Steps to Put People at the Heart of Care plan to reform social care and improve the lives of the 10 million people who draw on, work in or provide, care and support.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 17 May 2023.

The major conditions call for evidence has been launched for views on how best to prevent, diagnose, treat and manage the 6 major conditions.

• Call for evidence launched to inform strategy on how best to prevent, diagnose and manage 6 major groups of conditions
• Major conditions strategy will cover cancer, mental health and dementia
• Strategy will take long-term view of how to improve health service for conditions putting most strain on NHS

A call for evidence has been launched to invite views on how best to prevent, early diagnose, treat and manage the 6 major groups of conditions which drive ill health and contribute to the burden of disease in the population in England.

The 6 major health conditions – cancer, cardiovascular diseases including stroke and diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, dementia, mental ill health and musculoskeletal disorders – affect millions of people in England with data showing that one in 4 suffer from 2 or more of these major long-term conditions.

Recognising the pressure these conditions are putting on the NHS, the government is seeking views on a new strategy to tackle them that will focus not only on treatment but also on prevention.

Launched today, the major conditions strategy: call for evidence will inform a landmark major conditions strategy and recognising the country’s ageing population, it will help people to stay in better health for longer.

Those suffering from one or more of the conditions outlined are urged to come forward to provide insight into their experiences of managing their health needs. The government is particularly interested in hearing from those who suffer from, care for or provide treatment to people who suffer from multiple long-term conditions. This is to ensure the major conditions strategy is one that will better prevent, diagnose, manage and treat these conditions.

Contributions are also encouraged from those working in NHS bodies, local government, the voluntary and community sector, and wider industry, on how best to tackle suffering from one or more of these major conditions. Particularly, it is seeking perspectives on how government and the NHS can work better together with different organisations and sectors to improve the nation’s health.

The major conditions strategy signals the government’s intention to improve care and outcomes for those living with multiple conditions and an increasing complexity of need. For example:

• people with diabetes are twice as likely to have depression
• 9 in 10 dementia patients have another long-term condition
• half of people with a heart or lung condition have musculoskeletal disorders such as back pain

It will seek to reduce care and treatment that are too narrowly focused on specific diseases or organs in the body and consider how to treat people as a whole.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Steve Barclay, said:

Patients often live with more than one major condition, so it’s vital that we do all we can to understand how best to manage their care.

I encourage patients, carers and healthcare professionals to contribute to our call for evidence so we can ensure our major conditions strategy is as targeted and patient-focused as possible.

Minister of State for Care, Helen Whately, said:

We want to hear from as many people as possible affected by these conditions in our call for evidence. It’ll help us join up care across the NHS and mean better treatment for millions of people.

It’s also really important that we hear from professionals working in areas like dementia or cancer too. Their frontline experience will be invaluable to make sure our strategy includes plans which will really work in practice.

Samantha Benham-Hermetz, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

Since the previous dementia strategy expired in 2020, the number of people living with the condition in the UK, and the challenges they face every day, have only continued to grow. Thanks to progress in research, we’re on the cusp of a new era in dementia, with 2 new treatments for early Alzheimer’s disease showing promise in the last 6 months, and revolutionary new ways to diagnose it on the horizon. Bringing these into routine use will be challenging, and the major conditions strategy presents a huge opportunity to address these challenges and transform our health system.

It’s vital this new strategy leads to real, rapid and meaningful changes for people affected by, or at risk of, dementia. No family should ever have to go through the heartbreak of this condition, but unfortunately many more will unless we seize the opportunities our researchers are creating. We hope that by sharing their experiences and insight, people affected by dementia, their carers, and those working within the health system, can help bring about the change we all so desperately need to see.

Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of Asthma + Lung UK, said:

It’s encouraging to see the government taking action on respiratory diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Lung conditions are the third biggest killer in the UK, but historically haven’t received the attention they deserve, so the major conditions strategy is a big opportunity to change that.

Therefore, we want everyone with a lung condition or who works in respiratory health to come forward and have their say.

This call for evidence complements and builds on the 2 calls for evidence undertaken last year on mental health and cancer, the summaries of which have been published today and incorporates previous work looking at health disparities and dementia, while the department will be publishing a separate national suicide prevention strategy later this year.

Submissions to these previous calls for evidence will directly inform the development of the major conditions strategy, which will also examine health inequalities across England, exploring how the government can assist integrated care systems to ensure they are tackling disparities in their local areas, addressing variations in health and care.

Looking beyond the immediate pressures on the NHS, the strategy will focus on what can be delivered now as well as over the coming years to improve outcomes as the country continues to recover from the pandemic. The strategy will also build on work already done to tackle waiting lists for planned NHS treatments through the NHS elective recovery plan and unlock the next generation of medicines and diagnostics through the government’s ambitious life science missions.

The call for evidence is open for 6 weeks and will close at 11.59pm on 27 June.