Digital Health and Care

The new Scottish Government Digital Health and Care Strategy Enabling, Connecting and Empowering: Care in the Digital Age was released on the 27th October 2021.

This is a refresh of the 2018 Digital Health and Care Strategy and sets out how we will work together to improve the care and wellbeing of people in Scotland by making best use of digital technologies in the design and delivery of services, in a way, place and time that works best for them. 

It builds upon the digital successes which were accelerated as a result of Covid-19, such as Near Me video consulting; greater digital capability in care homes; and the increase in remote monitoring and self-management of conditions from home. It also supports the aims of the NHS Recovery Plan in its ambition to address the backlog in care and meet ongoing healthcare needs for people across Scotland.

Our work brings to life this strategy by supporting the workforce with resources to improve digital skills and leadership to embed digital technology into business as usual.

The PDA in TEC has been developed in partnership with the Scottish Qualifications Authority,  to equip Scotland’s workforce with the knowledge and skills to support people to use digital services and information to better manage their health and wellbeing.

Find out more about the PDA in TEC.

The Technology Enabled Care module is  adapted from the Professional Development Award in Technology Enabled Care at SCQF Level 7 course, the byte size learning is a brief overview or ‘taster’ of the topics covered in the PDA in TEC. 

The Exploring Digital Leadership Webinar Series is run in partnership with Leadership Links and Project Lift and is open to all roles and levels across health and social care with an interest in the subject. You can find recordings of past webinars as well as information about upcoming webinars. 

Health and  social care professionals require enhanced leadership skills and technological competence to provide digital solutions to enhance safe and effective person-centred care and influence the digital agenda at local and national levels.

The Digital Health and Care Leadership Programme (DLP) aims to:

• Maximise the potential of digital solutions to benefit people.
• Support participants to develop the strategic leadership skills required to influence the use of digital solutions in health and care delivery.

The Digital Health and Care Leadership Programme learning site provides information about the programme and resources supporting candidates with the application process.

Telecare is a service that supports people to live independently and safely by using information and technology as part of care and support planning.

The Telecare learning site provides access to resources including a free learning module to equip health, housing and care staff with the knowledge and skills to undertake a good person-centred assessment embedding telecare in support planning.

Meet Bridget and Hew who are using everyday technology, like a mobile phone or smartwatch to support their wellbeing.

Bridget and Hew have different levels of digital skills, but both use technology in a way that works for them.

View animations to find out how.

Microsoft Teams is a secure communication and collaboration tool providing health and social care colleagues with the ability to work together and share information. Teams is available to all NHS colleagues in Scotland supporting collaboration to deliver quality health and social care services.

Guidance and advice for using NHSScotland Microsoft 365 and applications such as Teams, Outlook, OneDrive etc can be found at Microsoft 365

The national Connect Me: Remote Health Pathways programmes aim is to provide people with safe and effective solutions for health condition management. 

The Remote Health Monitoring learning site provides resources to offer simple solutions providing more choice and greater flexibility for people to receive, record and send information about their current health and wellbeing.

The Digital Leadership Resources page provides a range of digital resources to help progress digital ways of working in organisations.

Visit the Health Literacy learning site for resources to support positive health literacy across health and social care.

The Skills for learning at work site provides guidance to support continued professional development including essential digital skills resources.