Number of UK social care providers using digital records hits 80%

The adoption of digital social care records has reached 80%, over 18 months after the UK government’s initial target date.

This is a doubling of baseline figures from December 2021, when, according to the government, only 40% of UK care providers had adopted digital records.

In a bid to increase the use of digital records in social care, the government originally set a target of having 80% of providers implementing electronic care record systems by March 2024.

Set out by the then health secretary Sajid Javid in March 2022, the plan of having 80% of all care providers move away from paper-based records by 2024 was an ambitious target – and one the government struggled to meet.

One reason social care providers have struggled to adopt digital records is that there is no national social care budget, so each local authority manages and spends the little funding it gets according to its priorities.

In June 2023, there had only been a 10% increase in care providers adopting digital records, but the numbers have increased quickly since July 2024.

A one-stop-shop for a person’s care information – securely available to carers – cuts paperwork, helps reduce errors and gives carers more time to care

Care minister Stephen Kinnock said the government is “driving digital innovation” and that “digital care records are making a major difference for people drawing on care and their carers”, with the number of care providers using digital records doubling from 40% to 80%.

“A one-stop-shop for a person’s care information – securely available to carers – cuts paperwork, helps reduce errors and gives carers more time to care,” he said.

“As we shift more care out of hospital and into the community, digital transformation is critical to ensure we create a coordinated system of social care and primary care.”

The government estimates that by following a “digital-first” approach in social care, it can save an estimated 30 million administrative hours per year, giving care workers back 20 minutes per shift.

Digital social care records include a person’s health conditions, such as diagnoses and medical history, treatment, medication, care needs, individual care plans, risk assessments, information on the care they have received, and communication between the patient’s family and the care provider.

In some areas of the country, social care staff are also able to view the patient’s GP records, using GP Connect.

This push to introduce digital care records forms part of the government’s 10-year plan, which includes a single patient record for all people in England, covering both NHS and social care.

The record will work as an NHS patient passport, ensuring information across services is available in one place. The government plans to introduce new legislation, placing a duty on healthcare providers to make information held about a patient available to the patient.

By 2028, patients will be able to view their record on the NHS App, including a personalised account of their health risk, using data from lifestyle, genomic and geographic data.

Ayub Bhayat, NHS England’s director of data and analytics, said digitising records is a “vital step toward a truly integrated health and care system, bringing us closer to the vision of a single patient record that improves continuity, safety and outcomes for patients”.

The move to a single record comes as the government is planning to push healthcare into the community by creating digitally enabled neighbourhood health services.

The government is also in the process of creating a National Care Service in England, which is already being adopted in Scotland and Wales.

In its original plan for a nationwide social care provision, the Labour government said: “Labour’s National Care Service will move towards greater public provision of social care. Local authorities will become responsible for planning, designing, delivering and evaluating care services within national frameworks.”