Substantial change to social care must include technology enabled care - TSA

1​2 August 2026

Our response to the Big Conversation on Care and social care reform

Social care is about people being able to live with dignity, independence and choice. It is about families knowing that the right support is there, and about a workforce that has the time, skills and resources to provide good care. For too many people, that is still not their experience. Support can feel fragmented, difficult to navigate and slow to respond when someone’s health, wellbeing or daily routine begins to change.

The launch of Baroness Louise Casey’s Big Conversation on Care gives us a crucial opportunity to change that.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made social care an early priority for his Government. He has recently announced that the Casey review will report a year earlier than planned, while cross-party talks begin alongside the wider public conversation. After decades of reviews and political disagreement, that sense of urgency is welcome.

TSA is ready to bring the experience, evidence and voices of the technology enabled care sector into that discussion.

Burnham has spoken about social care throughout his political career. His vision of Whole Person Care argued for physical health, mental health and social care to work together around the individual. He has also been a long-standing advocate for a National Care Service.

In his speech this week, he described a person-centred and preventative service that would sit alongside and work closely with the NHS. He also set out a clear principle of supporting people at home wherever possible. These ideas closely reflect what the technology enabled care sector has been working towards for many years.

People do not experience their lives through separate health, care and housing systems. Their needs overlap, and they can change gradually. A difference in someone’s mobility, sleep, activity levels or usual routine may be an early sign that they need additional support. Technology enabled care can help identify those changes and make sure the right people have the information they need to respond.

TEC already supports older people, people with disabilities and those living with long-term conditions to live safely and independently in the place they call home. It can give people greater confidence, reassure families and unpaid carers, and help professionals make better-informed decisions.

Used well, digital services and data can help spot when something is changing in a person’s health, wellbeing or usual routine. An early response could help prevent a fall, avoid an unnecessary hospital admission, support someone after a period of ill health or help them return home safely following treatment. Prevention in practice means understanding what is happening in someone’s life and putting support in place before their needs become more serious.

Burnham spoke about the pressure created when people are taken to hospital because suitable care is unavailable, and the further difficulties that arise when someone is ready to leave but cannot return home safely. This is distressing for individuals and families, places huge pressure on NHS staff and comes at a significant cost to the public purse.

A stronger social care system would allow more support to be provided earlier and closer to home. TEC can help make that possible. It can support better decisions, connect services and help limited resources reach the people who need them most.

Technology must therefore be built into the design of future care services from the outset and should not be treated as an additional digital workstream once the main decisions have already been made.

Investment in people will be just as important. Burnham’s focus on improving pay, training, security and progression for the social care workforce is welcome. Technology achieves very little without skilled and confident people who understand how to use it and how it can support an individual’s goals.

Good commissioning, strong leadership, resilient infrastructure, clear accountability and robust quality standards must sit alongside a capable workforce. Together, these foundations can help TEC deliver better outcomes for people.

Housing must also have a clear place in the reforms. For many people, home is where care, support and prevention come together. Housing organisations often know their residents and communities well. They can be well placed to recognise changing needs and help people access support before their circumstances worsen.

Greater Manchester has valuable experience of bringing health, care, housing and wider public services together around people and communities.

TSA has seen the benefits of this approach through our work in Stockport, where Carecall, Stockport Homes and Virgin Media O2 worked together to support telecare users during the move from analogue to digital services. It showed what can be achieved when organisations share information, expertise and responsibility.

Our TSA Housing Commission - chaired by Warren Heppolette, Director of the Prevention Demonstrator, Greater Manchester Combined Authority - is building on these principles. It brings together housing and care providers, local and regional authorities, commissioners and people with lived experience to develop a practical blueprint for digital preventative services in social housing.

Any future system must also work fairly for everyone. Older people, working-age disabled adults and people living in communities facing the greatest inequalities should all benefit from good care and well-designed technology. That means addressing digital exclusion, affordability, accessibility and trust. It means involving people in the design of services, respecting their choices and making sure technology gives them greater control over their lives.

Louise Casey has described the Big Conversation as an exercise in genuine involvement, rather than a traditional consultation built around decisions that have largely been made.

People who draw on care, their families, unpaid carers and the workforce must have a real say in shaping what comes next. The technology enabled care sector must also be heard. Our members understand what works in people’s homes and communities, where barriers remain and what needs to change.

Alyson Scurfield OBE, Chief Executive of TSA, said:

“Social care is deeply personal. It is about people, their families, their homes and their ability to live the life they choose.

“Andy Burnham has spoken with honesty about his own family’s experience and has made clear that he is prepared to put real political weight behind reform. Bringing the Casey review forward, beginning cross-party discussions and involving the public from the outset give us reason to believe that progress can be made.

“His call for care that is person-centred, preventative and provided at home wherever possible reflects what the technology enabled care sector works towards every day.

“Technology enabled care can help us identify changes in a person’s health, wellbeing or usual routine and respond before their needs become more serious. It can give people greater confidence in their own homes, reassure families and help the workforce make better-informed decisions.

“The Big Conversation must hear directly from people who use TEC, the families who rely on it and those delivering services in communities across the country.

“TSA will bring their voices, alongside practical evidence and experience from across our membership. We are ready to work with Baroness Casey, the Prime Minister, the Government and partners across the political spectrum to make sure technology enabled care is built into the future of social care from the beginning.”