… a minimum of not by itself!
What if we advised you that, in our opinion, knowledge and digital approaches are usually not the answer to fixing the challenges of the social care sector? You’d undoubtedly be questioning why there’s a lot fuss being made about digital transformation of grownup social care. However earlier than you breathe a sigh of reduction on the thought you don’t need to get your head round all that technical stuff, allow us to clarify what we imply.
We consider the important thing to fixing the challenges of the social care sector lies within the arms of the proper individuals utilizing knowledge to make knowledgeable selections and take applicable actions. Information provides you data. Knowledge is the flexibility to grasp that data and translate it into actions and insights.
Historical past teaches us priceless classes. It was not that way back the thought of sterilising medical gear and utilizing antiseptic approaches to look after wounds was thought of uncommon. But due to the work of the surgeon Joseph Lister, it’s inconceivable that any care setting wouldn’t have an infection prevention and management measures in place.
Involved concerning the excessive charge of post-surgical infections and mortality he was seeing, Lister started trialling methods to stop an infection primarily based on observations of his sufferers. He then used the info he gathered from these observations to check and develop his concept to sterilise surgical gear and use antiseptic strategies to deal with wounds.
Lister’s trials led to dramatically improved post-surgical survival charges and the event of the antiseptic system strategy to surgical care.
Unlock knowledge’s potential now
With the growing variety of care suppliers implementing digital social care information (digital care plans) to assist the supply of safer and extra personalised care, there’s by no means been a greater time to begin making use of the identical ideas utilized by Joseph Lister and use knowledge to unlock methods to ship higher social care.
Information has the potential to be transformative. Whether or not it’s AI (Synthetic Intelligence) instruments to assist individuals navigate the complicated world of the care sector, smarter techniques to plan house care routes or organise rotas and even utilizing knowledge to assist the following technology of pandemic preparedness responses.
For knowledge to be helpful and related to the best way that care is delivered, nevertheless, it wants enquiring minds from inside the sector. The progressive concepts and new methods to assist individuals drawing on care will come from individuals working in social care. It’s the individuals on the entrance line of care who know what issues want fixing. And its knowledge and what it could inform us which holds the important thing to workable options.
What are the questions you want knowledge that can assist you reply? Perhaps begin with areas like falls prevention, medicine optimisation or tackling loneliness?
Utilizing knowledge to assist us form how care is delivered additionally opens new alternatives for profession improvement inside the sector. Roles which concentrate on digital, knowledge and know-how (DDaT) are extra commonplace in well being than social care skilled. However digital transformation helps to alter that.
What does the long run maintain?
We don’t know the place these concepts will lead, or what constructive outcomes there will likely be for these drawing on social care, so whereas knowledge just isn’t THE reply it’s actually the stepping stone to discovering AN reply to the query, what does excellent care appear like sooner or later?
When you actually wish to discover the artwork of the doable, you’ll be able to examine £94 million being directed to the National Quantum Computing Centre. What challenges may it assist us with? Might it assist us optimise care?
Nearer to house, how may we use synthetic intelligence to unravel our care challenges with entry to assist from the Hartree National Centre for Digital Innovation, leveraging £210 million of funding? Perhaps there’s a problem that you simply face as a part of your position that it might assist with?
Take a look at these accessible courses on data and what you can do with it.
Discover out extra about our work on digitising social care.
