Two national care bodies have set up a new organisation for technology suppliers and care providers to involve people, families and carers more closely in the development of digital care services and products.
The TEC Action Alliance has been set up by Think Local Action Personal (TLAP), a partnership dedicated to making health and care more personalised, and the TEC Services Association (TSA), the representative body for technology enabled care (TEC) services across the UK.
They said the alliance will bring together public, private and voluntary sector organisations, connecting them with government departments and making sure that all conversations and decision making involves people who use health, care and housing services.
It will work with local government, the NHS and integrated care systems, along with umbrella bodies in the disability rights, health, social care and housing sectors, looking at how technology can be harnessed to support the delivery of personalised, affordable and high quality care.
A range of corporate partners are funding the alliance, including CareTech, Home Instead, LeGrand Care, Lilli, Microsoft, PA, Taking Care, Tunstall, and Verizon.
Jeremy Hughes CBE, former Alzheimer’s Society CEO, has been appointed as director, reporting to co-chairs Clenton Farquharson MBE, chair of TLAP, and Alyson Scurfield, CEO of the TSA.
Quarterly priorities
The priorities of the alliance will be set quarterly. Its initial focus areas include working with integrated care systems and preparations for the 2025 analogue to digital switchover, which will affect people who use TEC and organisations that provide TEC services.
Farquharson (pictured) commented: “This alliance represents an opportunity to genuinely co-produce digital services, so they focus on the true aspirations, ambitions and wants of people who draw on care – rather than the latest products or the needs we think people have.
“We will create new ways to ensure that power and decision making around care and support is shared equally with individuals, their families and carers.”
