NHSX has said it is working on the establishment of dynamic purchasing system (DPS) for digital social care records.
It is aiming to launch the procurement framework – which can take on extra suppliers after it is made available – in April as part of the effort to ensure all social care providers have access to a digital record that can interoperate with a local shared care record by 2024.
The move reflects the intent the health service and local government to ensure that care providers can share records on their residents and people receiving support with healthcare providers and social care teams.
NHSX said the DPS will give social care providers access to a list of supplier solutions that are assured as fully compliant with relevant standards on interoperability, data and cyber security.
The organisation is also working with the sector on providing buyers on guidance on identifying the best value solution.
Joining up
In a joint statement, Peter Skinner, assistant director of programmes, and Natalie James, the programme manager, said: “These records will play an important role in joining up care across social care and the NHS, freeing up time spent by care workers and managers on administrative tasks whilst equipping them with the information they need to deliver care.
“Commissioners and regulators will also gain access to real time data they can use to ensure the provision of high quality care. “
They said they are also working with the care sector and software suppliers to develop an evidence base on the use of digital records to help evaluate their impact. The Care Quality Commission and Local Government Association are also involved in the project.
“There is a huge appetite across the social care sector to engage with digital transformation,” they added. “The adoption of a digital social care record will support social care providers to capture real time information, view relevant information from the NHS record and enable more effective quality management. But this is only the start of the journey.
“The universal adoption of digital social care record solutions, across the social care sector, has the potential to transform care outcomes.
“It’s the platform on which other remote care tools can integrate. It’s a new source of data for shared care records, to enable more sophisticated population health management and a greater personalisation of care planning that focuses on the individual.”
Image from iStock, Pornpak Khunatorn
