Rethink Partners and the Royal Borough of Greenwich: case study
Guest blog by Rethink Partners #SocialCareTransformation
The challenge
The Royal Borough of Greenwich, like many areas, faced sustained pressure across adult social care and the NHS: rising demand, increasing complexity, workforce capacity constraints and a growing reliance on reactive interventions. Traditional telecare and assistive technology services were largely transactional and siloed, with limited integration into everyday social care or health practice. Residents were experiencing avoidable escalation into crisis or higher-cost care, practitioners lacked timely insight to act earlier, and system partners were unable to consistently evidence the preventative value of technology. Discharge pathways, reablement and frailty services were under particular strain. Greenwich wanted to move away from treating technology as a referral, towards a digitally-enabled service model that genuinely supported strengths-based practice, prevention and integration with NHS partners.
What we did
Rethink Partners has worked alongside Greenwich for more than three years, spanning discovery, design, mobilisation and live delivery support, in partnership with Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and NHS South East London ICB. Together we launched the DHACT (Digital Health and Care Technology) programme, which operates borough-wide and supports adults across multiple pathways including hospital discharge, frailty, mental health, reablement and longer-term social care. It is jointly funded across health and local government, reflecting a shared ambition to reduce avoidable demand on both systems through a shared intervention.
Rather than deploying new technology into an unchanged system, we redesigned how care is assessed, delivered and monitored, with digital tools embedded into everyday practice. Key elements of the intervention included co-production with residents, carers, frontline social care staff, NHS colleagues and commissioners to shape pathways, assessment approaches and use cases; a bottom-up redesign of the service model, starting with practitioner workflows, decision-making and outcomes rather than devices; development of a single, integrated digital care technology operating model covering referral routes, assessment, installation, follow-up, monitoring and escalation across health and social care; the integration of care technology and data for prevention into mainstream social work and health practice; a sustained culture change and capability-building programme including immersive training, coaching and skills transfer; and a robust benefits and financial modelling framework aligned across the council and NHS partners.
The outcome
Within the first ten weeks of mobilisation, referrals and installations exceeded initial projections. Eighty-seven per cent of staff completed immersive DHACT training, reflecting strong workforce engagement. Greenwich developed and adopted a financial and benefits model projecting £36 million of net benefit over ten years, with breakeven by Year 2, giving commissioners and system leaders the confidence to invest and scale. Practitioners report improved confidence in assessment and risk management, stronger personalised conversations with residents, and a greater ability to intervene earlier. Residents and families report improved reassurance, safety and independence through more responsive, joined-up support. DHACT has moved from being a bolt-on offer to an embedded system capability, providing a meaningful lever for bringing health and care integration to life. Technology enabled the change by giving practitioners visibility between visits and supporting proactive decision-making, but it was the redesign of practice and workflows that unlocked value.
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