The LGA and NHS Digital ran the Local Investment Programme, to support councils to use digital technology to improve social care services last year. Nineteen councils have received up to £50,000 towards their projects, detailed in the four themes. Click on the drop-down boxes for summary information and case studies.
Find out about the projects in your area through this new interactive tool.
Data across boundaries
Data sharing initiatives across local authority boundaries, between health and social care and to providers
Peterborough City Council Project
Summary: Aligning systems using the same social care database (Mosaic) to support integrated working across council boundaries with Cambridgeshire
Partner: Cambridgeshire County Council Servelec (Mosaic)
Outcomes: Better ways of working across boundaries with a better aligned service for the consumer.
Projected savings: More agile working in social care (£125,000), better information and analytics (£163,000) and reducing high cost placements (£500,000)
Sefton Council Project
Summary: Proof of concept study with software provider to support a digital pathway to manage homecare provision across Liverpool
Partners: Liverpool City Council Knowsley Council
Outcomes: Joined-up process for requesting home care services and a real-time view of service requests, delivery and capacity.
Projected savings: Reduced delayed discharges of care and a reduction in permanent residential admissions (minimum of £222,000 saving).
Wolverhampton City Council Project
Summary: Project to introduce shared data across five councils in the West Midlands covering DTOC and reason for hospital admission.
Partners: PredictX Outcomes: Reduce DTOC via factor analysis and reduced admission
Projected Savings: Reduced admissions from nursing and residential homes, housing engagement and through falls (evaluation partner to quantify)
London Borough of Hackney Project
Summary: Linking council, health and VCS datasets to identify residents with specific long term conditions to generate uptake in a new digital CBT tool.
Partners: City and Hackney CCG SilverCloud
Outcomes: Better behavioural insights intelligence and more eligible residents signed up to the digital CBT tool.
Projected savings: Not projected but likely reduction in service reliance for users
Personalised care and support planning
Improving information and advice to service user and measuring the outcomes of interventions
Norfolk County Council Project
Summary: Customer service client referral system to generate, track and follow-up social care client referrals to local organisations.
Partner: Norfolk Community Advice Network Outcomes: Improving the quality of information and advice, improved customer experience, and helping users remain independent for longer.
Projected savings: Projected to keep 52 people independent for longer and achieve savings of £238,000
London Borough of Harrow Project
Summary: Extend My Community ePurse system which supports purchasing social care/equipment via personal budget online system to people with personal health budgets
Partners: Watson Care Manager (IBM) NHS Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group
Outcomes: Better coordinated and personalised care Projected Savings: 7 per cent cost saving per Personal Health Budget - £70,000 in project period
Kent County Council Project
Summary: Creating a digital tool for assessing individuals outcomes of voluntary sector care navigation approach
Partner: Leicestershire Health Informatics Service
Outcomes: Enhanced independence of residents by identification of most effective community resources.
Projected savings: 10 per cent saving on their homecare spend (£2.8m pa) and delay uptake of statutory services by 4-6 months (£850k pa)
Leicestershire County Council Project
Summary: Using a third party tool to measure the impact of non-medical interventions on the health and care system.
Outcomes: Impact measured by number of non-medical interventions reducing need for health services
Projected savings: Linked to STP savings of £3,000,000 in 2017/18 (evaluation work will separate any savings)
Bradford City Council Project
Summary: Improve their information, advice and guidance web offer by developing a virtual assistant service on their Connect to Support platform.
Partner: University of Bradford
Outcomes: Better assistance for self-assessments and support for decision making about the care needs of themselves or others.
Projected savings: Prevention of uptake to traditional services (£275,000)
Bradford Council LIP case study
Video updating Bradford’s progress to create a digital navigation tool
Sharing record
Allowing service users and providers to access their records to make informed decisions about care and support.
Luton Council Project
Summary: Enabling residential/nursing homes to access electronic shared care records with health services.
Outcomes: Prevent avoidable emergency admissions, improve the experience of residents and improve the quality of service.
Projected savings: Reducing non-elective admissions (£366,000) and improving efficiencies in social care (£40,000).
Plymouth City Council Project
Summary: Enabling supported living providers to access care management data, including reporting activity/cost information via a portal
Partner: OLM Livewell South West
Outcomes: Help CCG/Council commissioning team monitor performance to improve quality, support outcome based care planning for residents
Projected Savings: 15 per cent on care packages (up to £850,000 for social care and £900,000 for health)
Solihull Council Project
Summary: Providing mental health professionals with effective mobile technology to access real time Information Management System
Outcomes: Enabling informed decisions using accurate clinical, social care and risk data with improved outcomes for service users
Projected savings: Increasing productivity of mental health professionals (£47,100 per annum)
Stockton-on-Tees Council Project
Summary: Online Care Plan tool shared with all professionals (with consent) in order that clients only have to tell their story once.
Outcomes: Up-to-date care plans (My Voice, My Choice) uploaded onto partners’ systems to enable better care planning and improved choices
Projected savings: Reducing duplication of work (£144,000 per annum).
Liverpool City Council Project
Summary: Developing digital medication adherence records to be used in Liverpool's care homes Partner: Liverpool Care Homes Partnership CIC Liverpool CCG
Outcomes: Reducing medication errors and free up care home staff time.
Projected savings: Better home care management (a total saving of £117,120 is possible).
Nottinghamshire County Council Project
Summary: Shared comprehensive record system to allow social care staff access to real-time acute, mental health, primary and community health information. Partners: Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust Connected Nottinghamshire
Outcomes: Efficient use of practitioners' time to access client data
Projected savings: 5 per cent of social workers' time saved (£2,100 per year) and £25,272 saved in reduction in bed numbers.
Presentation at LGA’s Digital Showcase on 22 November
Nottinghamshire County Council LIP case study
17 October Blog on lessons from the development of Nottinghamshire Health and Care Portal
Technology in the Home
Introducing new assistive technology in the home to increase resident independence.
London Borough of Barnet
Summary: Assistive technology to support 18 service users with complex learning disabilities based in supported living facilities and to train the workforce to look for assistive technology when planning all care.
Partners: Argenti
Outcomes: More personalised, independence enhancing support and quicker response to issues
Projected savings: £2,000 per user
London Borough of Barnet LIP case study
Video: providers and a learning disabled service user in supported living in Barnet
24 September – Blog from Barnet on the nine success factors for digital social care projects
Bath and North East Somerset Council Project
Summary: Piloting a range of assistive technology and diagnostic apps and devices within their reablement and rehabilitation service
Partners: TSA Virgin Care
Outcomes: Users remain in their own home for longer, non-elective admissions reduced
Projected savings: 0.8 per cent reduction in residential admissions (£165,000 p/a) Contribute to reduction in non-elective admissions (£187,000 p/a)
Essex County Council Project
Summary: Piloting video calls as part of care packages amongst individuals in the short-term support and reablement service.
Partners: Essex Cares Limited Breezie Speakset
Outcomes: Improved health and medicine management and better access to community support Projected Savings: 40 per cent reduction in physical visits projected for service users
Hampshire County Council Project
Summary: Trialling the use of the Amazon Echo (voice-activated home audio speaker) with 50 adult social care service users
Partners: Argenti Amazon
Outcomes: Reduced social isolation, increased reassurance of family
Projected savings: £7,700 of cashable savings for the 6-month pathfinder project. Estimate of £66,300 for 50 users (full year)
Presentation at LGA’s Digital Showcase on 22 November
Hampshire County Council LIP case study
Video involving a young physically disabled woman called Georgie in Hants with an Amazon Echo