Green Paper must support technology adoption

Person Centred Software co-founder and director, Jonathan Papworth, explains what technological developments he would like to see in the Green Paper on social care.

The forthcoming Green Paper on social care is long-promised and much-anticipated. The Government has said that the proposals will “ensure that the care and support system is sustainable in the long term”. Investment and collaboration in technology is crucial to ensure this change.

I believe the Green Paper needs to recognise that social care deserves much more attention than it has been given in the past. The NHS’s view of social care seems to be that social care is tiny relative to the NHS, when the reality is that they are, largely, the same size. The NHS employs 1.18 million people (1.04 million FTE) and social care employs 1.6 million people (1.13 FTE).*

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The Green Paper must support the adoption of technology in social care because sharing information electronically between social care and the NHS can relieve the burden on health services. This will enable faster discharge between hospital and social care environments, which are better suited to patients’ needs and preferences and so, above all, will increase patients’ wellbeing.

What technological developments do you think the Green Paper on social care needs to include? Share your thoughts: Search Care Managers’ Technology Forum on Facebook to join the conversation.

*Sources: https://bit.ly/2Um20UL;  https://bit.ly/2vrF9vs