£4.8m available to scale up local digital adult social care projects

Organisations that provide and commission adult social care services are invited to bid for a share of £4.8m to enable them to roll out their local digital projects on a wider scale.

NHS Digital is seeking applications for the Social Care Digital Pathfinders grant open for existing products and services that have already been piloted in small local areas, or have a strong evidence base, with the view to implementing them on a larger scale.

The programme aims to focus on  health and care system interoperability, such as sharing of information, real time event alerts and the implementation of appropriate safe and secure messaging platforms between health, care providers and local authorities.

The second theme of the programme focuses on use of data for prevention, predictive modelling for adult social care demands and needs across a population and using data to highlight a combination of health, social and environmental indicators.

Pam Garraway Senior Responsible Officer for the Social Care Programme at NHS Digital said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the social care sector to see their local digital projects rolled out on a wider scale; potentially benefiting the whole health and social care sector. Applicants should have already successfully piloted a solution in their area or have a strong evidence base of need. This investment will then support them in scaling up across multiple organisations that can reuse and share successful solutions in the wider area or elsewhere.”

The selected Digital Pathfinders will begin with a four-month development phase followed by a 13-month implementation phase if the development is successful.  Applications can be made by adult social care providers with not for profit status, local authorities and academic organisations based in England.

The deadline for applications is Wednesday May 22 at 5pm. For more information and to apply click here.