Taking a collaborative approach to social care
The pandemic has amplified the complexities facing the social care sector and the narrative around social care is a familiar one. A sector facing continued financial constraints, rising demand and complex structures. It can also be hard to navigate for innovators and new entrants who offer digital solutions to level-up social care and improve services and outcomes for citizens.
As techUK’s Ten Point Plan for Healthtech, outlines, although there are broader systemic challenges to the delivering of care in the UK, through the successful deployment of technology, using solutions such as remote monitoring, Technology Enabled Care Services (TECS) and increasing the base level of connectivity and digital maturity across the social care estate could go a long way to helping to improve outcomes for citizens.
techUK’s Social Care Working Group
Social care stakeholders and partners are vast, from the national to local to homecare level as well as the social care workforce, carers and unofficial carers. Recognising the complexity of this market and the challenges it faces, techUK has established a Social Care Working Group that brings together members of the Local Public Services and Health and Social Care Programmes to interrogate the challenges the social care market faces and collaborate on how digital technologies can transform outcomes in social care.
It is a diverse group representing the breadth and depth of the sector, from your established players to SMEs. The Chair is Helena Zaum, Senior Industry Executive for Social Care & Smart Places at Microsoft and the Vice-Chair is Angus Honeysett, Head of Market Access at Tunstall Healthcare (UK).
The key focus areas for 2022, as voted by members are:
- Highlighting the ability of Technology Enabled Care Services (TECS) to improve outcomes for citizens and showcasing innovation of members in helping solve some of the pressing problems faced in adult social care and children services
- Identifying the role industry can play in facilitating the Government agenda for integration between health and social care, particularly with respect to Integrated Care Systems (ICSs)
- Engaging with the NHS England Transformation Directorate, ADASS, LGA and local authorities to determine how industry can best identify opportunities for suppliers and support plans for digitising adult social care and children services
- Working towards a parity of esteem for both health and social care (particularly within the ICS agenda) and adult and children’s social care, subsequently exploring how to improve accessibility and digital inclusion
The Working Group acts a neutral forum for knowledge exchange across the supplier base and for public sector stakeholders to engage with the market. While identifying common challenges and solutions and offering the opportunity to leverage synergies to partner as often an ecosystem approach is needed to solve a problem.
It also provides members with the chance to connect with national and local stakeholders, to better understand their digital vision and challenges they face. Recent guests have included ADASS and the NHS's Transformation Directorate. It enables members to be better informed of the problem and how their solution can solve a problem.
Show & Tell
In the spirit of furthering collaboration and fostering growth in the social care tech sector, meetings contain a ‘Show & Tell’ standing agenda item. At each meeting one member has the opportunity to present for 5-10 minutes, outlining who they are; the social care problems their tech solves; and the opportunities they see where other members can help or partner with them. These videos are periodically added to our Social Care Innovation Hub.
You can view the previous four 'Show & Tell' presentations here:
How to get involved
This working group meets at least once each quarter. If you would like to be part of this growing and thriving tech community then you can do so by signing up here.
If you are a public sector stakeholder and would like to present at a future meeting, share your vision and challenges and access the latest social care innovations and tech get in touch with Georgina and Leontina.
The techUK Social Care Working Group provides a space for organisations involved in this critical sector to interact with key decision makers in government. We share a passion: to work with those who need care or support in their day to day lives, and with social care practitioners who work with them to encourage greater uptake of technology. If you and your organisation share our passion, then please join us!
The way things are being done in social care is rapidly changing, whether that’s social care reform, the formation of ICSs, funding challenges or the need to work collaboratively. We need to continue to deliver effective innovation and change together. The Social Care Working Group can help drive this rhetoric through understanding what is happening in the market and being able to influence key decision makers in making effective use of technology wherever possible. This group has a voice and I encourage you to get involved - let’s work together to make our collective voice count!
You can read more about the vision of both Helena and Angus for the Social Care Working Group by clicking here.
This working group meets at least once each quarter. If you would like to be part of this growing and thriving tech community then you can do so by signing up here.
If you are a public sector stakeholder and would like to present at a future meeting, share your vision and challenges and access the latest social care innovations and tech get in touch with Georgina and Leontina.
Georgina Maratheftis
Georgina Maratheftis
Georgina is techUK’s Associate Director for Local Public Services
Georgina works with suppliers that are active or looking to break into the market as well as with local public services to create the conditions for meaningful transformation. techUK regularly bring together local public services and supplier community to horizon scan and explore how the technologies of today and tomorrow can help solve some of the most pressing problems our communities face and improve outcomes for our people and places.
Prior to techUK, Georgina worked for a public policy events company where she managed the policy briefing division and was responsible for generating new ideas for events that would add value to the public sector. Georgina worked across a number of portfolios from education, criminal justice, and health but had a particular interest in public sector transformation and technology. Georgina also led on developing relationships across central and local government.
If you’d like to learn more about techUK, or want to get involved, get in touch.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- 020 7331 2029
- Twitter:
- @GeorginaMarath
- Website:
- www.techuk.org/
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgina-maratheftis-0a002a102/
Leontina Postelnicu
Leontina Postelnicu
Leontina joined techUK in March 2020, where she is now heading up the organisation’s Health and Social Care programme. At the moment, she is also completing an MSc in Health Policy at Imperial College London.
A former journalist, Leontina previously worked for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) as an associate editor for its International and Media divisions. There, she covered the EMEA region for Healthcare IT News, MobiHealthNews and HIMSS TV, with a focus on policy and innovation, and contributed to the Women in Health IT newsletter and HIMSS Insights eBook.
Outside of work, she enjoys reading, dancing, travelling and visiting her family in Romania, where she hails from.
- Email:
- [email protected]
Alex Lawrence
Alex Lawrence
Alex joined techUK in July 2021 as Programme Manager for Health and Social Care. Since July 2023 Alex has led the Programme.
Alex formerly worked at Portland Communications, joining as part of their 2019 Graduate Scheme intake. In March 2020 she joined Portland’s Health team, supporting a range of clients in the life sciences industry across both public affairs and strategic communications.
Alex has a degree in History from the University of Cambridge, focussing on Early Modern Europe and material culture. Outside of work she enjoys reading, finding new places to eat, and running.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- 07963 501 791
- LinkedIn:
- linkedin.com/in/alex-lawrence-509a8b166
