Analogue to Digital: How do we know we’re getting it right?

 In this webinar we heard different perspectives on what it means to get the analogue to digital switchover right, here’s a summary of what we learnt!  

If you want to re-watch the webinar, you can find it here! 

The panel agreed that gaining executive buy in for your digital vision is key to getting the Analogue to digital transition right. Here’s what they had to say: 

• Having the buy-in early helps eventual mobilisation and implementation to be smoother. 
• You need to test your ambition and stretch your organisation to see where people want to be and then you can work back from that.  
• Consider working with a research company or with technology suppliers to help gain that buy-in. They can support with proof of concepts and provide case studies.  
• Executive buy-in is key to securing that crucial initial investment. Once you have the budget, you can then focus on finding the right technology and resource. 
• Executive buy-in is key! It’s like buying a piece of exercise equipment if you don’t use it appropriately, you are not going to see the benefits. You must have the buy in to utilise the benefits otherwise you just have a piece of equipment that isn’t utilised appropriately.  
• Executive buy in is needed to ensure essential culture change right across health and adult social care. 
• You need to create belief in the ROI model, as if there is no belief, we will continue to deliver the same TEC services we’d been delivering the last 30 years.  
• Top Tip! Speak to other local authorities who have successfully gained executive buy-in for their digital vision. Take their learnings to secure tangible results! 

We also asked the panel what practical challenges threaten their ability to get analogue to digital ‘right’. Key themes were: 

• A lack of operational support from technology suppliers.   
• Supply chain issues. 
• Budget constraints. 
• Rushed roll-out. 

The panel suggested some solutions to help to mitigate these challenges: 

• Agility is key to success, choose solutions that provide interoperability and flexibility.  
• Put a plan in place to train the technicians and other team members. 
• Create a project working group to maintain stakeholder engagement and ensure progress.  
• Ask suppliers how they plan to help and learn which resources they can provide your teams. 2iC-Care offer robust support and advice. 
• Gain flexibility via interoperability to navigate supply chain issues. Andi by 2iC-Care is a fully interoperable TEC solution. 
• Visit the service user to see what is needed, put needs first.   
• Complete a data cleanse prior to project launch and consider your broader data strategy.   

The last challenge to get analogue to digital right isn’t about technology at all, it’s about people. A successful change management project within your local authority is key. Here’s the advice our panel shared: 

• Invest time in culture change across the board. Speak to as many stakeholders as possible across housing, health, colleagues in social care and more.  
• Culture change needs time, people, case studies and other materials so invest in the resource.  
• Understand that getting it right won’t happen overnight, be patient and persistent.   
• Practitioners need to feel confident about the technology so empower the practitioners with the knowledge they need! 
• Start with the needs of service users and be sure to update the catalogue to meet these needs.  
• Use storytelling to keep engagement, spread the word about how TEC has changed lives.  

What final advice did the panel share to help local authorities to build confidence in their decision making for the analogue to digital shift? 

• You need to plan beyond 2025 (now January 2027), create a strategy today to future-proof your services for the next 10-15 years. 
• Like for like is for the old-fashioned telecare users. 
• Be sure to link in long-term data strategies, don’t just get over the next hurdle.  
• Getting analogue to digital right is to solve problems you need to meet today and continue with a high-quality service but also be ready and prepared the service to the challenges that lie ahead in the future and all the unpredictability of that. 

Special thanks to our panel! 

Panel:  

• Natasha Corness, TEC Innovation Lead, Essex County Council 
• Charlotte Smith, Senior Commissioning Officer, Hackney Borough Council 
• Danny Shephard, TEC Business Consultant, 2iC-Care 

Meet Andi

Andi, by 2iC-Care, solves analogue to digital and future-proofs TEC services.  

Andi gives the right information to the right people at the right time to improve alarm response and enable preventative care. It is designed to be highly flexible, and this flexibility encourages technology enabled care teams to collaborate with many suppliers and stakeholders to improve care for service users. 

Andi on the TEC Innovation Award at the ITEC Conference in 2023. If you would like to learn more about how Andi can get you ready for A-D and future proof your TEC service, please get in touch with the team.