WMCA are working in association with Birmingham and Solihull ICB, Black Country ICS, Coventry and Warwickshire ICS and Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICS, to support Adult Social Care providers as part of the national Digitising Social Care Programme (also known and DiSC)
Digital Social Care is the future of care, reducing staffing costs, improving care records, and ensuring accountability for the standard of care that services users receive.
This includes Digital Social Care Records (DSCR), where it is vital that care providers are data compliant, due to holding service users’ personal medical records.
The Adult Social Care Digital Transformation Fund (ASC DTF) is available to support all CQC registered adult social care providers who are making the move from paper to an electronic form of capturing Care Plans called a Digital Social Care Record (DSCR).
WMCA have been supporting care providers to be data compliant through offering free support to around completing their Data Security Protection Toolkit (DSPT), through our Better Security, Better Care programme, funded by NHSX, since October 2019.
In the early stages, this also included workshops being delivered to care providers on how to access NHS mail and what the benefits were of this.
Overall, approximately 700 care providers have accessed our support throughout the 4 years.
This success allowed WMCA to gain access to the Digital Transformation Fund, working with local ICBs to deliver their 50% match funding programme for DSCR implementation, throughout the care sector, from 2023.
This has involved us working together to increase engagement with providers who wish to gain access to an assured solution to transfer their care records to a digital platform.
This has included supporting funding applications and delivering online and in-person DSCR marketplace events, where the assured solutions list were invited to demonstrate their platforms to care providers and the Midlands ICBs were present to discuss the requirements of applying for the funding.
Approximately 300 care providers have attended our marketplace events across the Midlands, leading to an increase in funding applications and support to implement DSCRs throughout the sector.
Who is eligible to receive funding?
You must be a registered CQC care provider making the move from paper to a digital form of Care Planning and you must select a DSCR supplier from the Assured Solutions List from the Dynamic Purchasing system (DPS) created by NHSE.
The Funding
ASC DTF Grant Award Funding will support your first-year implementation costs by way of a 50% match-funded grant award, including implementation or set up fees, training, licence fees and handheld devices (such as smartphone(s)(s) or tablet) if applicable.
However, as we approach the end of year 2 of the programme we are informed by NHS England that funds allocated via the Adult Social Care Digital Transformation Fund (ASC DTF) are in danger of being withdrawn for the remainder of this financial year.
Therefore, we are encouraging providers who are eligible to receive funding, to not delay and to get their applications in by the end of this month, November 2023, to enable us to process by the end of this financial year 2023/24.
WMCA are guaranteed to continue supporting care providers on their digital journey until March 2025, with funding being provided until that date.
One thing that is certain though is that digital social care won’t go away, and this is the direction of an outstanding level of care that we all strive to achieve and WMCA will be at the forefront of this for years to come.
Our Digital Team is on hand to support you with your applications and/or advise on how proceed to procure your DSCR, as well as to support your Data Security Protection Toolkit (DSPT) submissions. You can contact them via email - enquiries@wmca.digital or telephone 01384 943000 (option 1)
Find out more about our digital services here: WMCA Digital Care
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