A Digital Social Care Record (DSCR) allows the digital recording of care information and care received by an individual, within a social care setting, replacing traditional paper records. DSCRs are person-centred and enable information to be shared securely and in real-time with authorised individuals across the health and care sector.
Implementing Digital Social Care record is a national initiative to deliver the government’s recent commitment for 80% of Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered providers to have a digital social care record in place by March 2024.
Digital Social Care Records 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, leading to even greater focus on the individual.
Digital transformation can improve the quality and safety of the care delivered. Real time data can be shared across organisations, with the NHS and other health and care professionals, to ensure people receive the right care, at the right time, and the right people have access to the information they need.
Solution
Norfolk and Waveney ICS have been awarded funding by NHS Transformation to support CQC registered Care Providers in Norfolk with grants of up to 50% of the first-year implementation costs for moving from paper records to a Digital Social Care Record (DSCR).
We are funding CQC registered locations in Norfolk and Waveney, who have NHS mail and are DSPT compliant to Standards Met. Providers have access to an Assured Supplier List and other resources to support an informed decision.
The Digital Health and Social Care Team hosted a very successful Digital Social Care Record Launch event on the 4th October 2022. 62 Care Providers attended the launch event and had the opportunity to meet and talk to the Digital Health and Social Care Team, NHS England, NWICB Shared Care Record Team, CQC, Norfolk County Council, Norfolk and Suffolk Care Support, other local Care Providers and the Assured Suppliers.
Our team were the first Integrated Care System in England to get engagement and representation from CQC, and in particular their Chief Digital and Data Officer in relation to the digitising of social care. Assured Suppliers provided demos for all interested Care Providers so they could see the products in action and also ask questions about the capability of each one. CQC have released this video in which Mark Sutton says
“Underpinning our framework is good record keeping, Digital Social Care Records can help you do so much more than this. There are so many compelling reasons to adopt a DSCR. “The CQC are huge advocates of Digital Social Care Records. With our single assessment framework, providers will find it increasingly hard to match the quality of care provided by others to obtain a good or outstanding rating”.
Our team has developed a robust grant applications process including evidence of benefits realisation, supporting governance for the approval of applications, the production of promotional information on the grant available as well as additional supporting materials, all of which have been shared with other ICS’s as best practice examples at the request of NHS Transformation.
Our team is also on hand to help care providers implement the change, by providing tools, resources, templates and guidance to support with their digital transformation.
Benefits
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. They are the platform on which other remote care tools can integrate and can enable the greater personalisation of care planning that focuses on the individual.
DSCRS are person-centred and enable information to be shared securely and in real-time with authorised individuals within the organisation, with a person’s circle of care and with specified individuals involved in the care and support of the person.
For individuals receiving care:
Improving quality of life for people in receipt of care.
Reducing risks and incidents due to improved routine monitoring through embedded flags and alerts in the platform e.g. early detection of deterioration leading to admission avoidance.
More person-centred care due to timely access to better quality information by care recipients, carers and multiple care staff -– people only have to “tell their story once”.
For individuals receiving care:
Improving quality and safety by giving carers, managers and regulators the latest information about the people they care for, including relevant data from the NHS, to ensure they receive the right care at the right time and enabling a move towards more anticipatory, preventive, care.
Improving productivity in social care by reducing the administration of care records and plans.
Reducing the amount of time staff spend on paperwork and other routine tasks, giving them more time to spend interacting with people and delivering personalised care. The adoption of DSCR has been shown to release at least 20 minutes, per care worker, per shift.
Reducing errors in care provision by ensuring information about an individual’s care needs and preferences is known to every professional involved in their care.
Improving in the information provided by NHS organisations with the ability to view admission and discharge information which will help to reduce the administrative burden and delays associated with the admissions and discharge process.
Supporting Care Providers to improve their CQC rating and providing the evidence that they deliver care at the regulatory standard.
Less time spent with CQC and Norfolk County Council’s Quality Improvement Teams at visits if they can view information remotely.
For individuals receiving care:
Linking with a fully integrated Shared Care Record gives a whole overview of the individual’s care needs.
Improving the information received by NHS organisations with the electronic transfer of admission and discharge information will help to reduce the administrative burden and delays associated with the admissions and discharge process.
Feedback
Care Providers recently told Norfolk County Council’s Integrated Quality Service that using DSCR means:
“Less time recording, more time supporting.” “Audits more meaningful, take half the time.” “Safety-net for staff who miss updates at handover.” “Concerns with weights and hydration get picked up sooner.”
Cookies on improvinglivesnw.org.uk website. We’ve put some small files called cookies on your device to make our site work. We’d also like to use analytics cookies. These send information about how our site is used to a service called Google Analytics. We use this information to improve our site. Let us know if this is OK. We’ll use a cookie to save your choice and you can read more about your choices in our cookie policy.OkNoCookie policy
