Essex County Council is inviting bids for a digital technology project that could help support people to live independently in their own homes and save nearly £12 million in social care costs.
The council has made a request for tenders to provide tech that may include telecare such as personal sensors, assistive technology and remote monitoring.
The expected costs of the new plan increase from £8.4 million for the first three years to £28.6 million for the full seven years, reports the East London and West Essex Guardian, and the project could leave to fewer jobs.
However, it is estimated that additional savings of £11.8 million would be achievable over three years, which will pay for the investment required.
Councillor John Spence, cabinet member for adult social care, told the newspaper: “It is not about trying to cut staff visits – although it is true there will be fewer – a lot of the savings will arise because people will not need to go into residential care. They will be able to stay in their home for longer and they will not need to have the intensity of domiciliary care that otherwise would be required.
“Why is this running ahead of expectation in the financial benefit? Because it is achieving a greater usage than we had projected and we are seeing greater saving coming because they are using the technology more.”
Photo credit: Doro.
