TRANSFORMING TECHNOLOGY IN SOCIAL CARE: NATIONAL CARE GROUP SECURES FUNDING TO DIGITISE MEDICATION MANAGEMENT
National Care Group (NCG) has successfully been granted more than £300,000 in funding from the Adult Social Care Technology Fund, part of the Digitising Social Care Programme, to support the implementation of new medication management technology.
The funding is one of four grants announced nationally and will be used by NCG to roll out new digital technology that will empower its 2,700 colleagues to increase quality and safety, reduce avoidable hospital admissions and support more people to live independently.
NCG is the only social care provider to secure a grant in the initial round of funding which will enable the introduction of Electronic Medication Administration Record System (eMAR) technology. The organisation, which is committed to exploring opportunities to adapt and evolve to benefit both colleagues and the people it supports, worked collaboratively with partners from NHS South Yorkshire, Guided Innovation and Care Research to produce the bid and align with the objectives of the funding.
The new digital technology will reach all of NCG’s 275 sites across England to the benefit of the 1,230 adults with learning disabilities, autism, mental health diagnosis, acquired brain injury and other complex needs supported by the organisation.
Some expected outcomes include:
Final approval of the funding was announced today, and the successful projects are due to commence during autumn 2023.
Karen Lewis, Chief Operating Officer at NCG who led the bid application commented:
“National Care Group is excited to be partnering on the rollout of eMAR with NHS South Yorkshire and our regional ICB partners, Guided Innovation, and Care Research.
Thanks to the funding, we will be able to introduce the new digital technology to our services in England which will be a significant milestone towards enhancing the quality of our medication management and recording for the 1,230 people we support. The transformational new approach will empower our colleagues to not only reduce avoidable hospital admissions but also support more people to live independently.”
The Digitising Social Care Programme is a major government programme delivering on the commitments to digitise adult social care. The programme is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and delivered in partnership with NHS England.
The new medication management technology will contribute to NCG’s strategic aims of significantly increasing quality, safety, and efficiency through digitisation, from care planning to colleague engagement.