Lockdown STILL has not ended for the elderly, says MARIO ZUCCARO

THIS week has been the first time the Department of Health and Social Care has published a report on digital transformation which actually mentioned social care.

Lockdown STILL has not ended for the elderly

Lockdown STILL has not ended for the elderly (Image: GETTY)

It’s great news that the opportunities technology can bring to both those who need care and those who provide it are finally being recognised by our leaders but honestly: it’s about time – the clue’s in the name!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that you cannot fix our health system without fixing social care: the two are inextricably entwined, as anyone who has dealt with getting a frail loved one home from hospital knows.

It was 14 years ago when I was visiting my aunt that I realised how behind the times we were in providing vulnerable people real choice in their care packages.

Betty –a woman whose activity in her younger years was only matched by her enthusiasm for life– had been discharged from hospital following an operation when I noticed a box in the corner of her sitting room. It was, she explained a personal alarm system which was there to give her peace of mind in case she needed help.

She explained, “If I need any help, I press this button apparently, they're going send someone.”

Most of us have experienced lockdown and the negative effects it had on our mental and physical health. Yet for the two million or so people in the UK who use the static personal alarms, linked to telephone lines, they’re still living that.

Well, not my aunt. She carried on walking every day but also ended up unplugging that static box, telling me she wanted something to use when she went out.

I’m happy to say that in the end, Betty didn’t have to pick between a life trapped in her own home with her alarm or getting out and about, because she inspired me to create something new.

50 years ago we sent a man to the moon so I knew it was within my power to create a device which would still work when Betty went for a walk to the local shops.

I was just surprised no one else had thought it was something we should be offering people.

We know that being active is a key to a healthier life and technology can provide the additional safety net which vulnerable people of all ages can incorporate as part of full and healthy lives.

What we’re trying to do at Oysta is revolutionise the industry to provide the care that we would want ourselves. It’s compassion-driven technology.

We’re not in the business of replacing carers with machines but what we want to do is what Mr Javid was talking about when he launched this report.

It’s about using digital solutions to free up front line workers to provide care where it is really needed. And it’s about empowering people to remain independent for as long as possible.

What we do is use digital technology – including the data driven insights which our IntelliCare platform can provide - to allow carers to make better care decisions.

If they know from the data a person is out on a walk or they’ve had lunch and taken their medication, they can let them get on with their day.

But there might be someone who hasn’t been moving around as much as usual, or maybe they were getting up and down in the night to use the bathroom because they have an infection: these are the priority people the care teams can see.

According to a poll by the Local Government Association, most councils fear they have a lack of social care workers for the reforms which are being implemented.

There is also a vacancy rate of about 10 per cent in the sector and with an ageing population we need to be looking for smarter ways of working.

The current system is exhausting for the carers, too. It is much better if they can allocate their time to where their support is needed

You only need to look at the 12,000 patients a day who are ready to be sent home from hospital but cannot – because of delays in social care – to see that the system needs to change.

Those occupied beds are stopping people on the waiting list getting treated or stopping people in A&E getting set up to wards.

This is no time to paper over the cracks.

So I welcome this latest report and if Mr Javid wants to look into the future he’s proposed, my door is always open. Because we’ve already got it up and running.

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