A share of £4.5m will be distributed between 16 organisations that provide and commission adult social care services, to enable them to roll out their local digital projects on a wider scale.
The organisations have been selected to receive a Social Care Digital Pathfinders grant, which supports products and services that have already been piloted in small local areas - with the view to implementing them on a larger scale.
The successful Digital Pathfinders will now commence a 13-month implementation phase, with projects predominantly looking at standardising information and developing digital ways of sharing that information between multiple health and care organisations.
The investment is managed by NHS Digital2, as part of the NHS’ Digital Transformation Portfolio, and supports the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock’s vision for interoperability and openness, open standards and appropriate infrastructure.
Health Minister Nicola Blackwood said: “Bridging the technology gap between the NHS and social care is a central part of achieving a health and care service that is fit for the future. This £4.5 million investment will support local areas to improve information sharing across services, ensuring people avoid hospital unless absolutely necessary and helping everyone live independently for longer.”
Pam Garraway, Senior Responsible Officer for the Social Care Programme at NHS Digital, said: “I’m delighted to see so many exciting digital projects now underway - every one of which has the potential to benefit the whole health and social care sector.
“What makes it so exciting is the fact that these projects aren’t working in isolation, as they perhaps would have done in the past. They are working collectively to drive standards and solve problems, which is why we are confident that all of the pathfinder projects can be replicated easily.
“This isn’t just about best practice pilots. Once this work is finalised, we fully expect areas will be able to go out and use these products and implement them locally – safe in the knowledge that they are tried and tested.”
