Lack of understanding is stifling adoption of technology enabled care, says report from TEC Services Association and PA Consulting

Around half of councils in the UK believe there is little or almost no understanding of TEC across the health and social care workforce.

And while 97% of adult social care leaders agree that TEC is an important way to respond to “the tidal wave of demand and complexity” they face, eight in 10 say building a case for investment to achieve their goals remains a key challenge.

The findings come in From ambition to action, the first state of the sector report on TEC. Drawing together a wealth of data, including a new in-depth survey of adult social care leaders from across the UK, it shows the case for wider use of TEC has been proven.

The report, produced by the TEC Services Association (TSA) and PA Consulting, the global innovation and transformation consultancy, finds 100% of respondents to the survey regard TEC services – using everything from traditional alarms and sensors to smart devices to help people maintain their independence – as a vital part of their social care offer.

Findings showed that TEC is underutilised and has the potential to be used far more widely to transform lives; it can extend to supporting children and young people with special needs and disabilities and unpaid carers as well as to the support provided to older people, those with disabilities and to assist hospital discharge.

From ambition to action is framed around the opportunities for TEC to play a wider role, the need to define outcomes and build the investment case, tackling challenges and identifying enablers of success, and importance of ‘a senior-championed plan for success’.

The report identifies four key barriers: financial pressures, workforce challenges, integration of health and social care, and the digital switchover.

Additional findings include:

• Knowledge and understanding gaps – half of councils say their workforce has “almost no understanding” of how to speak confidently to service users about the benefits of TEC. Fewer than half (45%) of councils either have firm plans in place or are already making good progress in raising awareness of TEC across their workforce. Just one-third (34%) either have firm plans in place or are already making good progress in removing barriers stopping their workforce from using TEC, such as skills gaps.
• Untapped opportunities – for example, two in three councils currently either do not use TEC at all, or only occasionally, to support children and their families.
• Concerns around integration – two in three councils expect building an integrated approach to TEC across health and social care to be a challenge – with the remainder saying it might be. Some 79% of councils currently have no plans for joint commissioning of TEC.
• Digital distraction – more than half of councils cite the digital migration by 2025 as a challenge that could have an impact on people using services and the cost of TEC.

From ambition to action brings together a wide range of data and insight, direct quotes from adult social care leaders and case studies, to paint a picture of the sheer scope for TEC services to play a bigger role in mitigating the crisis in health and social care. It reveals the priority areas for commissioners and their aspirations around TEC over the next 12 months – providing a valuable resource for the TEC sector.

The report was launched in Birmingham this week at the annual International Technology Enabled Care Conference, Empowering People’s Lives.