The 2024 digital health and social care plan for care providers

Discover why the government is urging care providers to go digital, the benefits and steps involved, AI's future and more! 

As you probably already know, a government target has been set for 80% of all registered care providers to adopt a Digital Social Care Record (DSCR), such as PCS's Digital Care System, by 2024. To assist CQC-registered adult social care providers with adopting this technology, the NHS Transformation Directorate is currently providing ICSs with £25 million in funding.  

The government is urging care providers to go digital because adopting digital social care records will help provide better care for service users by giving carers more time to care and reducing onerous administration tasks.

Going digital will:   

• Save clinicians time and deliver better, safer care for people by increasing consistency, reducing risk, and shortening the length of hospital stays. 
• Ensure that nobody falls between the gap and that everyone receives the right care in the right place at the right time - better integration is vital to stop people from falling into the gaps between health and social care.    
• Bring all care providers into the digital age to transform how they work, saving time and helping them to deliver better, safer care for service users.   
• Benefit people with multiple conditions as they won't have to repeat their needs to numerous people across different organisations.  

Person Centred Software's Digital Care System addresses all of the above; it's the first fully mobile, easiest-to-use digital care management system for evidencing care.  

What are the steps involved in going digital for care providers? 

If you’re looking for a digital care planning system, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed. There are many out there with varying features and levels of service, so how do you choose the right digital care system for your organisation? 

Firstly, it’s a good idea to speak to several other care providers who have already made the digital transition. They will be able to give you some advice on which digital care system to use. You are buying a digital care system to meet the target of going digital by 2024, but you also need to ask yourself why else would you need a digital care system?  

• Are you looking for a system that integrates with an electronic medication management system to manage and monitor residents’ medication effectively?  
• Do you need a system that helps improve your CQC ratings?  
• Perhaps you're looking for a system to help prevent dehydration and monitor nutrition amongst your residents etc. 

Once you have the answers to your ‘Why’ for wanting a digital care system, you can then start searching for the right system for your organisation. 

For a glimpse at Person Centred Software's Digital Care System, click here to book a demo. 

You can also download our guide on ‘A guide to going digital with your social care records by 2024’, which answers all questions regarding the digitising social care records programme, what to consider when going digital, and what steps to take. 

How do I make clinical actions more person centred? 

A person-centred approach means focusing care on the needs of the individual, ensuring that people's preferences, needs and values are taken into account when making clinical decisions, all whilst providing respectful and responsive care.   A digital care planning system allows care providers to create comprehensive person-centred care plans as well as access residents’ preferences and essential information at the point of care when and where it’s needed.  

The Digital Care System’s Person-Centred Care Plans feature helps to ensure each resident's needs are being met with detailed care plans as well as making sure carers are aware of each resident's care needs.  It’s icon-driven interface also enables care notes to be more person-centred because they are designed to give carers more time. With pre-populated care notes and an icon-driven interface, medical records and care notes are kept up-to-date with the latest information efficiently and accurately. Consequently, care providers can perform better, allowing them to spend more time with residents and providing the best care environment for everyone.

What are the benefits of care providers going digital? 

There are many benefits for care providers going digital. Digitalising the care sector will transform how care providers work; it will help to save time and help deliver better, safer care for service users.

• Reduce care providers' daily workload by an hour  
• Assist with reducing risks such as medication errors, dehydration, and missed visits
• Provide real-time information about care received  
• Help to ensure that care providers are aware of when people's needs change and enable a quick response
• Assist in managing and supporting staff to do their jobs effectively and efficiently
• Provide the ability to compare and use data to improve people's care    
• Enable easy storage of care notes, requiring less physical space
• Safely, accurately, and quickly share information
• Support better use of resources across the health and care system
• Care providers who use services can access residents' care records more easily 

How will AI and machine learning impact the future of health and social care? 

Predictive models that can harness the power of collecting data in volume will undoubtedly dominate the future. These predictive models will allow early intervention and reduce the need and reliance on people using health services in the future.  

Using Person Centred Software's Digital Care System enables data from care home residences in the UK to be collected by predictive models. The predictive model, developed by Person-Centred Software and T-DAB (The Data Analysis Bureau) in 2021, enables care providers to measure and compare quality and performance indicators.  

T-DAB, a data science and engineering innovation company, provides end-to-end machine-learning solutions to help clients better understand their data and deliver business insights. 

AI-driven technologies are also increasingly being incorporated into health and care services to improve patient experiences, assist the workforce, and improve the system's efficiency. For example, AI and data science are revolutionising how we diagnose and treat diseases - they can provide many benefits in early detection, such as identifying a person's risk factors. 

AI data processing may soon lead to digital systems that can help make informed assessments about a patient's condition and prompt earlier investigation and treatment. Digital systems, for example, could predict pain when a patient is otherwise incapacitated with dementia.  

In 2023, social care will continue to be transformed by interoperability and digital care. To transform the social care sector using data, we must begin with care providers adopting digital social care records and other care technologies, such as digital care planning systems, to address common care provider challenges.