A social care tech consultancy has helped secure a £600,000, two-year Government grant to boost technology adoption for one of its clients.
The rare six-figure Government grant has been won with the aim to digitise medicine administration, with learnings to be shared with the whole health and social care sector.
Digital transformation consultancy Guided Innovation has secured the two-year grant for its client the National Care Group, who will be implementing, testing and reporting back on its process to reduce medicine errors.
The sum is one of only four successful grants given out of 106 bids as part of the Adult Social Care Technology Fund, which is supporting the digitisation of social care in England.
Geraint Thomas, who founded Guided Innovation in 2020 after 15 years in social care, is pleased that he and his team were able to spot the opportunity.
“The social care sector has been under a great deal of pressure, even before COVID, and grants like this almost never come along.
“In fact, this is only the second grant I’ve ever seen in my time in social care; so we had to jump at the opportunity.”
The Adult Social Care Technology Fund aims to support social care organisations in reducing hospital admissions, helping promote independence, and generally reduce risk for vulnerable people accessing social care.
The particular technology projects for the National Care Group will revolve around a digital medication administration system, to minimise risk and reduce errors from the process.
“Make no mistake, this grant will help save lives,” adds Geraint. “Human error with medicines in social care unfortunately does happen, with devastating consequences.
“The added bonus of this public grant, is that the results, findings, outcomes and learnings will be shared wider afield, so more in the health and care sector, and the NHS, can learn from it and develop their technologies and processes too.”
Guided Innovation has worked with more than 200 care companies across the UK on technologies from management tools and back office to rostering, care planning, wearables and assistive technology.
National Care Group is one of the UK’s leading providers of care and support services to some of the most vulnerable adults in the UK, including those with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, autism, acquired brain injury, and associated complex needs.
The Adult Social Care Technology Fund has been set up to accelerate the digital transformation of social care in England. It follows on from £25 million allocated by the Treasury with an ambition to support care providers to go digital by March 2024.
For further information, please contact Geraint Thomas at Guided Innovation, on 07494 905506 or geraint.thomas@guidedinnovation.co.uk.
