DHSC: Adult Social Care Digital Expertise

Digital skills projects

The organisation will be responsible for leading on discrete projects to support the ASC workforce to adopt digital ways of working. These projects will support the delivery of a 'comprehensive digital learning offer', as committed to in the ASC reform white paper, People at the Heart of Care. The organisation will be required to demonstrate experience in leading projects on ASC workforce digitisation and existing stakeholder networks with the ASC workforce to enable co-production with the sector where relevant:

• Project 1 - Digital Skills Self-Assessment tool: the objective of this project is to support the ASC workforce to self-assess their current level of digital skills against the Digital Skills Framework. This will support employers and people working in social care to identify their skills gaps and target digital training to meet their needs. This work will support our commitment in A plan for digital health and social care "implement a self-assessment tool to sit alongside [the digital skills framework]." The supplier will be required to lead extensive user engagement with a full range of the ASC workforce to design the content for the tool and work in partnership with our digital team to ensure that an accessible tool is available on the Digitising Social Care website.
• Project 2 - What Good Looks Like Self-Assessment tool: the objective of this project is to develop a tool to support care providers to implement the What Good Looks Like guidance for social care. The tool should allow care provider organisations to benchmark and baseline themselves; understand their achievements and their gaps of focus; develop their vision; and make a case for change to enable them to move forward in their digital improvement journey. The supplier will use their existing care provider networks to develop and user test the tool, and will provide hands-on support to 3 care provider organisations in implementation.
• Project 3 - Awarding Organisation and Training Provider direct support: the objective of this project is to support AO and TP organisations to develop the confidence and capability to deliver digital skills training and qualifications in ASC, including supporting delivery of the level 5 digital leadership qualification.
• Project 4 - Digitising Social Care communications and engagement support: the supplier will support with the implementation of the programme's internal communications strategy through running webinar events and blog posts to support the ASC sector in their digital journey.
• Project 5 - Support implementation of the National Digital Workforce Plan: the National Digital Workforce Plan aims to develop the Digital, Data, and Technology (DDaT) and Informatics workforce in health and social care. ASC expertise will be required to ensure that its implementation is inclusive of the ASC workforce.

Additional information:

This procurement followed the Open procedure route with Light touch regime (LTR) under The Public Contract Regulation 2015 - regulation 74 to 77.