A report by Oxford Brookes University’s Institute of Public Care (IPC) and the NHS-backed Digital Social Care partnership has identified significant benefits for providers arising from the use of technology during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The report, ‘The Impact of Technology in Adult Social Care Provider Services’, was commissioned by NHSX, and makes recommendations on how the recent experience and rapid deployment of digital technology can be harnessed for future needs.
Video conferencing in particular is a “significant and essential aid” for social care, said IPC.
The study ran from 20 April to 19 June, a time when there was a rapid increase in demand from social care providers for digital services such as video conferencing, NHSmail, and other digital technologies.
Designed to avoid placing an undue burden on the sector during the pandemic, the study provided a new helpline to support the adult social care sector to use technology during the coronavirus outbreak.
The research set out to examine the barriers, enabling factors, and benefits of adopting technology.
The report outlines significant gains from the use of technology, including better communication with NHS organisations, better coordination of care around an individual’s needs, and reduced administrative effort.
The report found the rapid digital adoption was not without problems, resulting in very variable experiences for providers.
“In particular, the process for application, registration and activation of NHSmail is still challenging and slow for many care providers, even with the simplified requirements,” the report said.
Among the recommendations the report makes are a need to recognise the scale of support needed to roll out wider use of digital technologies in adult social care.
As well as embracing common digital tools such as secure email and video conferencing, independent, strategic advice will be essential to assist in the selection of the right tools, and to build a bigger ‘digital community’, as well as appropriate levels of digital skills training across the adult social care workforce, IPC said.
“At this extremely stressful time on the frontline of coronavirus care, we want to help care service providers who are working with new technology, perhaps for the first time,” said IPC assistant director Fiona Richardson.
“The care sector needs support to deliver its essential work and this research could be an important driver in enabling us to harness all of the power that technology and digital innovations offer us,” she added.
