The government has released a ‘What Good Looks Like’ (WGLL) guide for Local Authorities and care providers in England. This guide builds on the ‘People at the Heart of Care’ white paper from 2021. The guidance is aimed at individuals who have responsibility for digital transformation. In both local authorities and care provider organisations. It provides an aspirational framework to help them shape the future of digital solutions in social care.
The paper is focused on England. But it offers good practice and practical advice relevant to care providers across the UK and Ireland. We’ve summarised its key points in a series of blogs. To help Nourish users and others in social care learn from the White Paper.
Breaking Down the Sections
The new WGLL framework comprises 7 success measures divided into three categories. The three sections are Digitise, Connect and Transform.
This guidance builds on the NHS What Good Looks Like framework and can be applied alongside the What Good Looks Like guidance for nursing. The DHSC page also contains a range best practice guides for digital working, and further supportive resources here.
In our second blog we are focussing on the ‘Connect’ category.
Support Workforce
“Supporting your workforce means developing a skilled, capable workforce who can confidently identify, recommend and use appropriate technology safely and effectively for people drawing on social care.”
When it comes to supporting your workforce, it’s about trusting them and empowering them to use the digital tools available to them and to those who use your services.
When supporting your workforce it is important to keep in mind that digital literacy is commonplace in today’s society. Almost everyone utilises some form of digital technology each day from Facebook, to Whatsapp, Fitbits, alarms and even banking. We live in a world of digital technology, to the extent we often overlook just how skilled we are with digital tools.
Care Roadshows invited us to take part in a series of panels on Balancing Technology and Human Connection. In Glasgow, Quality Compliance Systems Head of Social Care Content Lindsay Rees discussed the importance of understanding ‘Why’, and how the purpose of digitisation must be understood by all in your organisation.
In spring of last year, in response to Sajid Javid’s comments on digitisation in social care, we examined digital literacy in social care. Our analysis of the Ipsos Mori Polling revealed there is far greater understanding and use of digital tools in social care than was being openly discussed, especially in domiciliary care settings.
Time and again we have seen that the social care workforce is highly capable and adaptable to change. With support to learn new skills and clarity on the benefits of doing so, carers will excel in utilising digital tools in their provision of care.
You can read about the experience so many of our own team have working in care here. Experience that shapes the way we approach digital social care every day.
Empower People
“A person-centred approach to the design and use of digital technologies can improve people’s quality of life and wellbeing and support independence.”
We believe that the Local Government Association said it best when they defined empowerment as ‘treating people as equal citizens’.
True empowerment comes from partnership, not dictation. Where people, services and systems work together to realise the ambitions we all share for better care. Our ability to understand each other and the challenges we face is much greater when we work together.
Care is based in community, and digitisation should be approached in the same way, as a communal undertaking. This means co-producing care with both the people who will be providing the care, and those who will be utilising it and co-producing your digitisation with partner who works alongside your team to build the most effective solution.
We specialise in working with care providers to create the best digital solution for your service, if you would like to learn more about this process you can see our case study with: Encompass Care or Winserve Care, or reach out to us directly.
