Connecting care homes - are we getting there?
I’ve written here before about former Tomorrow’s World editor Michael Blakstad and his plan to use media to improve the treatment of people with dementia living in care homes. The project is making some progress but if it is to work, one thing is vital - better connectivity in care homes.
I’ve been trying to find out more about just how many care homes have decent broadband connections available to residents and whether the government sees this as an important issue. The picture is mixed.
On the positive side there is a plan to improve care home connectivity, with £150m of government funding, and an energetic civil servant pushing it forward and eager to talk about it. Alice Ainsworth, Deputy Director for Social Care Tech Policy, got in touch and then quickly replied to my questions - a rare occurrence in my experience with health mandarins.
“Reliable wifi is an important enabler for staff to use digital tools like digital social care records, as well as enabling families to remain in close contact with their loved ones,” she told me. “Access to the internet can also help people to maintain hobbies and - as such - their independence.” She said all homes should have broadband with a download speed of at least 40Mbps and those with 50 beds or more should be aiming for more than 300Mbps - where that was available.
One problem, however, is getting an accurate picture of the current sate of connectivity so that progress can be properly measured. There was some research carried out by NHS Digital in 2020 using data from telecoms firms showing nearly two thirds of care homes were using internet connections not considered good enough for small businesses.
But we need a more comprehensive and up to date picture - and we also need more incentives for care homes to do better. Until the regulator the Care Quality Commission puts fast broadband on its checklist when it inspects homes, they are unlikely to make it a priority.
Alice Ainsworth and her team are preparing a guidance document on ‘what good looks like’ for adult social care and running a pilot where they seek to learn lessons from the rollout of fibre in one region.
That all sounds good - but I have learned to be a bit sceptical about government promises on fast broadband. In 2019 Boris Johnson promised to bring full fibre connections to every home and business in Britain by 2025 - and that presumably included all care homes.
That was soon watered down to 85% getting gigabit broadband by the same date. Yesterday, as he left Downing Street, Mr Johnson boasted that 70% of homes now had a Gigabit service - without mentioning that the figure depended on an upgrade of Virgin Media’s network, most of which isn’t full fibre, or that the government had funded just 2% of that 70% coverage figure.
So how about a new less ambitious target? Alice Ainsworth’s suggestion of 300Mbps connections for larger care homes is a long way short of gigabit broadband but surely that should be available to all by 2025?
We are a long way from care homes having a decent connection. From talking to us every day on facetime my aged aunt has ended up in a room with hardly any connection. The home didn't know how to boost the signal and to be fair they have a lot of work helping with other things and just don't know enough about wifi or the limitations of a poor connection. One of the projects we were involved with is Kraydel, and that does it through a smart TV with a very simple remote. If every care home room had that facility I could guarantee that less medication would be needed. I am sure most homes are operating on a standard fttc connection, which may be ok for a single user but is absolutely useless for multiple users, expecially if tvs are involved with high demands for video. Digital Britain, now in the second decade of this superfarce where customers think fibre comes down a phone line! I am glad you have found a civil servant who cares Rory. Keep up the good work.