We have been awarded funding to bring social care into the digital age
We’re delighted to receive £120,000 funding from the Local Government Association (LGA) to use digital innovation to create social care of the future.
How was the money spent?
This second successful bid follows on from £30,000 funding for the discovery phase. Awarded last year, the funding was used to investigate local challenges for social care service users and how these could be addressed through digital technology. The feedback and insights gathered from this phase led to the development of an early prototype of a self-service care account. This was tested with service users, carers and staff to gather initial feedback.
Who can access information?
Currently, information is only available to service users through phone and face to face appointments. The £120,000 funding for the implementation phase will enable the prototype to be created into a working online self-service account giving service users access to their information 24/7 and ultimately more control. This will then be piloted with service users and carers in Kirklees later this year as people have gained confidence in recent weeks with online facilities to support social distancing and to make better use of their time and resources.
Cllr Musarrat Khan, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care said:
“This is an exciting development for Kirklees that will offer more choice and control for our users and carers. It will enable social carers to focus more of their time on supporting people with their more complex social care and support needs.
The design of the care account – delivered collaboratively between the council’s IT Digital Design and Adult Social Care teams and our users and carers – will add real value to the sector and push boundaries of digital innovation for social care across the country.”
How to get involved
If you are an adult social care service user or carer and would like to be involved in testing or piloting the care account to give your feedback, please register your interest through the participant sign up form on our website or by emailing digital.team@kirklees.gov.uk with your full name and contact details including telephone number.
More information
More information about the project can be found on our website.
The Social Care Digital Innovation Programme (SCDIP) LGA supports the adult social care sector to use digital technology to respond to challenges in local areas. The programme is funded by NHS Digital and managed by the LGA. It is intended to enhance direct practice, improve information sharing and enable integration. The programme has a strong emphasis on co-production.