County Council to invest millions more in care technology to support vulnerable

Hampshire County Council is set to invest up to £67 million in care technology over the next ten years to support the growing number of elderly people and younger adults with disabilities in Hampshire.

At her recent decision day, Councillor Liz Fairhurst, Hampshire County Council’s Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Health approved the investment in a new Technology Enabled Care (TEC) care technology contract to start in December 2018.

She said: “This is a significant funding decision by the County Council, underlining our commitment to using technology to support vulnerable adults, both young and old, and our confidence in the improved quality of life it brings for those who need help.
“Over the next few years, as demand for support grows, we are aiming to increase the number of County Council adult social care clients benefitting from the use of care technology from the current 9,600 per year to more than 14,000.”

As part of the new contract, a ‘private pay’ service will also be launched which will enable adults, who do not qualify for adult social care support, to purchase the wide range of proven care technology now available to the County Council’s social care clients. Third parties, including other local authorities and NHS partners, will also be able to buy Technology Enabled Care services from Hampshire.

Through its current partnership, the County Council is recognised as an industry leader in the use of technology in adult social care, both nationally and internationally.

This has been demonstrated most recently through its ‘world first’ trial of the use of Amazon’s Alexa voice activated technology to support adults with physical disabilities to continue living independently in their own homes.

The first mainstream County Council contract for telecare in Hampshire began in August 2013. PA Consulting Ltd were awarded the contract, and formed the Argenti consortia/partnership including Red Alert and Medvivo, who were subcontracted to provide equipment installation and contact support.

The new contract will be out to tender from end July 2018.

The County Council currently provides long term support to more than 20,000 Hampshire residents.

Keep up to date with all CommunityAd articles, news and publications by following us on our social media channels: