The government also intends to spend £150 million on driving greater adoption of technology and digitisation in social care, with the aim of supporting independent living. This is all welcome news and a step towards positive change for a healthcare sector that is currently chronically understaffed, under-resourced and underfunded.

There’s an appetite for new technology

Every week, we are seeing new and innovative solutions come to the fore as well as a new breed of technology innovators who are rolling out pilot schemes that reflect real ingenuity and creative thinking in tackling the issues facing the health and social care sectors. Some big names have set their sights on the sector, with the likes of Google acquiring Fitbit for $2.1 billion in 2019 and Apple’s Health app providing a healthy dose of improvements with every new release. It’s clear there are both societal benefits and economic value in using health data, insights and analytics, and there is an emerging acceptance that technology can facilitate the vital operational change that is very much needed.

In 2019, the then NHS Chief Executive, Simon Stevens openly called on tech firms to help our health service to become a world leader in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). In another example, one of the UK’s biggest health trusts, University College London Hospitals (UCLH), worked in partnership with the Alan Turing Institute, which is a body that collects the AI expertise of British universities. Together they entered a three-year partnership that aimed to bring the benefits of ML to the NHS. 

With an aging population and a rise in those living with self-limiting conditions, more support than ever is required, so adoption of new innovative solutions must be a priority. The difficulties we face in the UK are common among all healthcare systems across Europe and North America. According to the United Nations, the developed world is grappling with the challenges of an ageing population which is putting greater pressure on care resources. Currently, people aged over 60 in the UK make up 23% of the overall population, but by 2050, it’s estimated that this will grow to at least 30% and with those between the age of 65 and 69 in care homes living on average seven less years than those who don’t, enabling people to live in their homes for longer is a way to reduce this ever increasing strain on services. 

Technology will be the cornerstone of a change in health and social care

It is well documented that the NHS is stretched in terms of available resources, an issue escalated by the Covid-19 pandemic. With hospital waiting lists at an all-time high, one vital way to help ease the situation is to relieve the pressure in social care and facilitate vulnerable people to leave hospital and return to their own homes safely and seek to reduce the chance of readmission. While new technology won’t solve all the problems the NHS and Social care are  facing, it does have an important part to play supporting both the carers and those being cared for. Innovative technology has the potential to be the cornerstone of a long term and sustainable future for our health and social care sector. Investment in the adoption of health monitoring technologies have the capacity to fully realise the wider and long-term transformation that the health and social care sector so urgently needs.

Technology has a vital role in both health and social care

Being able to effectively optimise social care resources by supporting them with evidence based remote monitoring technologies will become essential to their ability to support this increasing need.

Out-of-date telecare models widely used within the social care sector have created something of a misnomer that have exacerbated the current care crisis, by providing only reactive alerts and alarms that fail to address the real issue for people living at home and the pressures faced by those responsible for their care.

The sector needs smarter, more proactive focussed monitoring technologies that adopt approaches such as AI and ML to identify the patterns and trends of daily life and that can recognise when changes in behaviour occur, indicating potential issues in advance of any becoming acute. This type of solution will both better support the person living at home and allow care practitioners better visibility on how people are managing and where their time and care is needed the most.

The potential of this technology to transform the way we deliver health and social care is immense and can be used to develop and support new integrated ways of working across both the NHS and social care.

What to look for in good health tech investments

When considering investing in a health tech company, it is better to look for one that is dedicated to new technologies and innovation. You can reduce the risk of your investment by seeking Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) registered businesses. These provide significant tax incentives for investors in developing technology companies. Additionally, ensuring the technology is focussed towards the future with a clear purpose, rather than just looking at what is happening now will help futureproof investments. Finally, the team is just as important as the technology, so investing in a company that has the right people to drive and build it is key.