Care in a Changing World A first look at ITEC 2027
TSA Housing Commission: what the sector is telling us Our response to the Big Conversation on Care The final countdown for Analogue to Digital This issue is sponsored by September/October 2026
TSA News
The voice of Technology Enabled Care
TSA Housing Commission: What The Sector Is Telling Us Since the TSA Housing Commission launched in Manchester on 21 July 2026, work has moved into its evidence-gathering and sector-testing phase, with interviews, outreach and case studies underway.
Alyson Scurfield TSA Chief Executive
I want to begin this issue with an important development for TSA. We are delighted to welcome Paul Berney as our new Deputy Chief Executive. Many of you will know Paul from his brilliant sector development work which included the ADASS TSA Proactive and Preventative Care Blueprint and also from his leadership of our fast-growing consultancy team. Over recent months, much of that consultancy work has centred on supporting organisations through the analogue to digital (A2D) migration. Paul’s appointment comes at exactly the right moment, as we enter a critical phase of that national transition. While the A2D deadline has not changed, the pace of preparation still needs to. Too many analogue systems remain in place, particularly in supported housing schemes, even though they may not connect reliably once the old telephone network is retired. At the time of writing, local authorities and housing associations have just over 125 days to act. I urge you to get in touch with TSA if you need advice or support in this area. Read more on p.13. This urgency is not unique to the UK. I’ve just returned from the Connected Health and Safety (CHS) Association conference in Nashville, Tennessee where I moderated an international panel on ageing, technology and innovation. The global message was clear: countries everywhere are grappling with rising social care demand, workforce pressures and the need to shift from reactive responses to proactive, preventative support. TEC is central to that shift. The UK’s experience and delivery expertise is increasingly 2
recognised on the international stage, and we have much to contribute to that global conversation. Hear about the event on p.16. Here at home, political momentum is building around social care. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made it an early priority, and the Casey Commission has been brought forward by a full year. Burnham’s vision of a person-centred, preventative National Care Service, with support delivered at home, aligns closely with our sector’s ambitions. TEC must be built into the foundations of that reform from the outset, and we’ll be working closely with government officials to make sure the case for TEC is heard loud and clear over coming months. More on p.10. You’ll also find updates in this issue on our National Sector Support Group, which is strengthening the evidence and economic case for TEC (p.8), and on the progress of our Housing Commission as it develops a practical blueprint for digital preventative services in social housing (p.3). Looking ahead, we are preparing for ITEC 2027, which is moving to The Liverpool Experience Campus, offering our largest exhibition ever and a programme built around ‘Care in a Changing World’. With new stages focused on Innovation, Impact and Partnerships, ITEC will reflect the broader conversations now shaping health, housing and social care. More details on p.4. But first: A2D. Four months remain. Please act now. TSA is here to support you every step of the way. I hope you enjoy this issue.
Supported by Tunstall Healthcare (UK), the Commission is developing a practical Blueprint to help social housing providers build stronger, connected and preventative resident services.
Several themes are emerging Digital transformation needs to remain human-centred. Technology and data can identify changing needs and risks earlier, but professional judgement and human intervention remain central. Services also need to consider the whole person. Housing, health, care, wellbeing and community support are increasingly interconnected, creating opportunities for housing providers to support independence, prevention and neighbourhood services. Prevention is another strong theme. Organisations are using data and digital tools to spot changes earlier and act before problems escalate. The starting point is the resident outcome, with the service model, technology and data aligned around it. Digital resilience is equally important. Connectivity, systems, suppliers, data, workforce capability and response arrangements need to work together as housing services become more digitally dependent. Resilience is an operating model and governance issue, not simply a technology issue.
The Commission is now testing these themes with the sector. Its first virtual challenge session will take place on 6 October, followed by autumn engagement including the Northern Housing Consortium Conference on 5 November. A second Commission session will take place on 24 November. From November into December, the focus will shift to developing and validating the Blueprint, testing use cases, investment and value, the cost of inaction and where benefits accrue, while continuing to draw on lived experience, resident insight and wider sector challenge. The final Blueprint and supporting tools are due in January 2027, giving housing providers guidance for safer, more personalised, digitally resilient and preventative services.
ITEC Conference
ITEC 2027 9 - 10 March
The Liverpool Experience Campus
CARE IN A CHANGING WORLD People, partnerships and innovation shaping the future of health, housing and social care ITEC is moving to Liverpool for 2027, and we’re so excited to welcome you to our new home.
Bringing the programme together For 2027, Care in a Changing World brings the programme together, with people, partnerships and innovation shaping the future of health, housing and social care, setting out the focus for the two days. Demand for care and support continues to rise, while budgets and workforces remain under pressure. Organisations are being asked to support more people to live well and independently, intervene earlier and make better use of the resources available to them. Policy is moving in the same direction. Prevention, neighbourhood health, reablement and care closer to home are becoming essential, while adult social care reform continues to develop. The Casey Commission has been accelerated and is part of that wider picture, alongside growing expectations around how health, housing, social care and community services work together. Technology is changing quickly too. AI, data and predictive analytics, remote monitoring, virtual wards, digital reablement and smart home technology are already influencing how services are designed and delivered. By March 2027, the sector will also be beyond the digital switchover milestone, giving us the chance to reflect on what happened, what organisations learned, where new issues emerged and what needs to happen next.
On 9 and 10 March, ITEC will take place at The Liverpool Experience Campus for the first time, bringing together people from across health, housing, social care, local government, community organisations, technology providers and technology ITEC has grown year on year, and the conversations around technology enabled care have grown and changed with it. What was once discussed mainly within specialist TEC services now reaches much further into social care, housing, neighbourhood health, reablement, prevention, community support and the way care is commissioned and delivered. Liverpool gives us more space to reflect that growth, bring more people into the conversation and build an event around the issues organisations across care and support are dealing with now. It also gives us the opportunity to expand the exhibition, with more organisations, more innovations on show and more space for delegates to explore what is being used across the sector.
4
Across the two days, one question will sit at the centre of ITEC 2027:
How can we deliver quality care and support as demand rises, resources are stretched and expectations change? We will explore that across three main stages: Innovation, Impact and Partnerships.
5
Innovation
More than the programme
The Innovation Stage will focus on where technology is already making a difference, where the evidence is strong and where more still needs to be understood. We will look at AI and predictive approaches, data and intelligence, virtual wards, remote monitoring, digitally enabled reablement, smart homes and interoperability. There will also be a strong focus on what happens after a pilot has shown promise. How do successful ideas move into wider delivery? What helps them scale? What gets in the way? How do organisations build the case for investment, and how do they know whether something is genuinely improving outcomes? The digital switchover will remain a major part of the conversation, with more attention on safety, resilience, continuity and what organisations have learned from operating in a digital environment.
Impact The Impact Stage will focus on the people using, delivering and shaping care and support. We will hear from people drawing on services, families and carers, housing teams, domiciliary care workers, clinicians, commissioners and the wider workforce. The programme will explore workforce skills, lived experience, co-production, digital inclusion, independence, choice and control, alongside the role of neighbourhoods and communities.
Partnerships
Some of the most useful conversations at ITEC happen outside the sessions. Two days in Liverpool will give delegates the chance to meet people tackling similar challenges, compare approaches with peers, speak directly to technology providers and build relationships across sectors that increasingly need to work together. The bigger and better exhibition will be a major part of that, giving delegates more opportunities to see technology first-hand, ask detailed questions and talk to the organisations developing and delivering it. If you work in TEC, health, housing or social care, this is where many of the conversations that will shape the year ahead will be happening, with the people already making changes, testing new approaches and working through the same pressures you are facing. We will also ensure that the programme gets into the detail of delivery, with case studies that look beyond the launch of a project and share what worked, what proved difficult and what organisations learned along the way. Delegates will be able to share their own experience, learn directly from others, see technology in action and meet people they can continue working with long after the conference ends. With ITEC moving to Liverpool, the audience growing and changing, a bigger exhibition and more opportunities to bring people together across health, housing, social care and TEC, 2027 is set to be our biggest ITEC yet. If your work touches care, support or technology, we’d love you to be part of it.
The conversations of today will support the work of the future. We’ll see you in Liverpool on 9 and 10 March.
A big part of this conversation will be whether technology is working well for the people expected to use it. Does it support independence? Does it help staff to work more effectively? Do people trust it? Where are the barriers, and what have organisations learned when adoption has proved harder than expected?
The Partnerships Stage will look at leadership, culture and the practical work involved in delivering across organisational boundaries. Health, housing, social care, local government, community organisations and technology providers increasingly need to work around the same people, places and outcomes. We will explore commissioning, investment, governance, risk, leadership and culture, alongside the relationships needed to make that work in practice. We also want to hear about where collaboration has proved difficult. Where has it worked well? Where has it stalled? How have leaders built trust between organisations with different pressures, priorities and ways of working?
6
7
Sector News
Blueprint 2: making proactive and preventative care easier to design, deliver and scale By Paul Berney Deputy Chief Executive Officer, TSA When we launched the first ADASS - TSA Blueprint in April 2025, our aim was simple: to give local authorities a step-by-step, best practice guide to launching proactive TEC services, along with a clear investment case for this approach. The response since then has been extraordinary. With over 700 downloads across every single local authority in England and Wales, the Blueprint has become a shared reference point for commissioners, TEC managers and DASSs who want to move from pilots to scalable, preventative digital care. Over the past year, we’ve worked closely with regions to understand what’s helping - and what’s holding people back. Our rapid assessments across all 13 local authorities in the North East, each benchmarked against the Blueprint, surfaced four clear blockers that are now shaping Phase 2. Service Design First, service design remains the biggest failure point. Too often, local authorities jump straight to buying technology without first defining how life will change for the person drawing on TEC, and how staff will deliver that change. There is no standardised approach for designing any TEC services - let alone proactive and preventative ones. Blueprint 2 will consolidate the best practice around service design that we’ve collected over the past 12 months. 8
Benefits Modelling Second, local authorities want more support to build compelling financial and benefits models. This aligns closely with the work of TSA’s new National Sector Support Group, which is strengthening the TEC evidence base, helping the sector make a more credible, data-driven case for investment. Blueprint 2 will build on this by offering clearer modelling tools and examples. Common Metrics Third, there is still no common set of metrics. Without shared measures, it’s hard to evaluate success, benchmark against peers or understand whether a pilot is ready to scale. Again, this is an area where the Sector Support Group is already active - bringing together published evidence, public sector data and a minimum dataset from our sponsors.
Blueprint 2 will complement this by defining the core metrics every proactive TEC service should report on.
Staff Training And fourth, workforce capability is critical. Unsurprisingly, when local authorities train their staff in TEC, those teams are far more likely to prescribe it. Awareness, competence and confidence are essential if we want digital-first ambition to translate into everyday practice.
Download the first Blueprint here. Find out more about the Digitally Enabled Lives event in Newcastle here.
Blueprint 2 will focus on these four elements and make the Blueprint even more usable. We’re shifting from a report-style document to a more interactive format and creating a business-case journey that senior managers can follow, step by step. We’ll share more at TSA’s Digitally Enabled Lives event in Newcastle on 15th October. Phase 2 is about making proactive and preventative digital care easier to design, easier to deliver and easier to scale - and we can’t wait to show you what’s coming next. 9
TSA News
Substantial change to social care must include technology enabled care - TSA 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.
Baroness Louise Casey’s Big Conversation on Care gives us a crucial opportunity to change that. Since its launch in July, the conversation has already attracted more than 350,000 votes through its online platform, alongside thousands of proposals about what people want and expect from care and support in the future.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made social care an early priority for his Government. The Casey Commission is now due to make its final recommendations by summer 2027, a year earlier than originally planned, while cross-party discussions have begun 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 longstanding advocate for a National Care Service. In his July speech on social care, he described a person-centred and preventative service that would
10
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 betterinformed 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.
TEC allows more support to be provided earlier and closer to home 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.
11
Sector News Our TSA Housing Commission, chaired by Warren Heppolette, Director of the Prevention Demonstrator at Greater Manchester Combined Authority, is building on these principles. Following its first meeting in Manchester in July, the Commission is now gathering evidence and engaging with the sector to develop a practical Blueprint for stronger, connected and future-ready resident services in social housing.
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.
Warren Heppolette, TSA Housing Commission Chair
The Commission is bringing together housing and care providers, local and regional authorities, commissioners and people with lived experience, looking at how data, digital infrastructure and technology enabled care can support more proactive and preventative services. Any future system must also work fairly for everyone. Older people, working-age disabled adults and people living in communities facing the greatest inequalities
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 gives 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.”
12
A2D: The Final Countdown For nearly a decade, TSA has been warning that the analogue-to-digital (A2D) switchover would reshape the foundations of telecare. Since 2017, we have urged organisations to prepare, plan and invest early. The original deadline of 2025 was extended to 2027, but that extension did not remove the risk - it simply bought time. Today, that time is almost gone.
Across the UK, millions of people rely on telecare to stay safe at home. Yet significant numbers of analogue devices (particularly in supported housing) are still in service even though they may not connect reliably over digital networks. The consequences are not theoretical. In recent years, two vulnerable people died when their personal alarms failed after their landlines were switched off. Their deaths prompted Government to launch the Telecare National Action Plan, recognising the urgent need to protect the two million people who depend on TEC across the UK. We are now entering the critical delivery window. Procurement alone can take six to eight months, and installation can take weeks for each scheme. For some organisations, the procurement period is already longer than the time left before the 31 January 2027 deadline. As TSA’s Chief Executive Alyson Scurfield OBE put it: “If someone presses an alarm tonight, can you be certain that call will reach the response service?” If the answer is anything
other than yes, this is an immediate safety and governance issue. And with timelines tightening, “waiting is no longer a credible option.” TSA has been clear for many years: analogue telecare will not be dependable as the PSTN is retired. Organisations must know how many analogue devices remain, whether their migration plan is funded and deliverable, and what happens if delivery slips. They must also ensure accountability at board level - because this is not simply a technology upgrade. It is a core safeguarding responsibility. The sector has made progress, but too many organisations are still exposed. Shockingly, only around 30% of supported, extra care and retirement schemes have upgraded their telecare systems to digital. Fully digital TEC systems are now essential for long-term resilience. Where interim arrangements remain, they must be backed by robust risk assessment, testing and ongoing monitoring.
With only four months remaining, the message is simple: act now. TSA can provide practical, hands-on support to help organisations complete their migration safely and on time. For tailored guidance on digital switchover and TEC readiness, contact: consultancy@tsa-voice.org.uk
13
Sector Development
Building a safer future: how Cambridge City Council transformed its lifeline alarm service The Challenge Cambridge City Council manages 13 sheltered housing schemes, supporting more than 500 older and disabled residents. With the analogue telephone switch-off fast approaching, the local authority faced a notable challenge: its entire technology enabled care (TEC) alarm estate needed upgrading across indoor and outdoor schemes. A digital solution was required to provide high quality, reliable support to residents, along with value for money to the council. As Laura Adcock, Strategic Health and Wellbeing Lead at Cambridge City Council, who led the transition, explains:
“It is a really high risk thing when you swap people’s lifeline alarms, and I wanted to get it right first time for our residents who depend on this technology 24 hours a day. “It’s also a significant investment for the council and we wanted to understand how to make the most of the opportunity. While our teams bring expertise in housing, support services and asset management, we wanted independent specialist advice to help us make the best long-term decision for residents.”
The Support That impartial view was provided by national TEC advisory body, TSA, which brought independence, experience and deep market knowledge to the project. TSA initially conducted site surveys to define the technical possibilities, but as things progressed, it became clear that to find a future-proof, cost-efficient solution, which met operational demands and created the very best outcomes for residents, the council would need specialist advice around procurement, too. TSA began by designing stakeholder engagement sessions with teams across IT, governance, asset management and responsive maintenance. Housing support staff provided feedback from residents, and Cambridgeshire County Council’s Technology Enabled Care Services (TECS) team also inputted.
“That consultation process helped us enormously”, Laura says. “We got to understand people’s frustrations with the current systems and what they wanted from the upgrade. Combining this with TSA’s specialist knowledge around standards and technical options helped us to develop a specification that was tailored exactly to our needs.”
14
TSA’s aim was to help Cambridge City Council to better understand and de-risk their entire TEC procurement process. This involved organising site visits with potential bidders, creating detailed tender questions to challenge suppliers, joining the evaluation panel and unpicking bids to find the very best solution for residents. One of the most valuable elements was TSA’s role as a critical friend. The team challenged the council’s thinking throughout the process and ensured there was a clear focus on outcomes at every point. An example of this was questioning the council’s original plan to concentrate solely on grouped living alarms.
“An issue with the old system was that if one alarm went down, so did the whole block,” says Laura. “We had to contact every single resident, work with maintenance officers and the contractor to get it up again fast. But dispersed alarms are standalone, so they are much more resilient from a continuity point of view.”
As a result, Cambridge City Council widened their specification, allowing suppliers to offer solutions based on any combination of hard-wired systems or dispersed units. This better reflected operational needs and encouraged market competition with a broad range of companies bidding for the work. TSA also helped the council understand they didn’t immediately need a new maintenance contract as the warranty on new alarms would guarantee them for a set period. Their current response contract could also be retained until new alarms were installed – not everything needed to be procured at once. The implementation stage of the project is now underway with TSA joining the kick off meeting and supporting Cambridge City Council to trial the new alarms across a test site. They will also help the council to draft a specification for their new TEC monitoring and response contract early next year.
The Outcomes TSA helped Cambridge City Council to reduce the anticipated budget contract value by around £200,000 before the tender went out. The chosen supplier provided competitive pricing and was a clear winner on quality. Ultimately, TSA ensured the council got the best possible value from their new contract.
“They’ve added to our capacity. This was an extra project on top of everything else and they were like an extra member of the team, keeping us on track, supporting our thinking in the short and longer term and helping with prioritisation. Having their support meant we had the bandwidth to deliver this work really well. They helped us explore the full range of options and gave us confidence in the decisions we made.”
From strategy to implementation, TSA helps housing providers turn risk, data and technology into better outcomes for residents. Start a practical conversation: consultancy@tsa-voice.org.uk 15
ITEC Conference
TSA Sharing UK TEC experience on the global stage
TSA was delighted to recently join Technology Enabled Care leaders from across the world at the Connected Health & Safety Association Annual Conference in Nashville, USA, sharing UK experience and exploring how technology can support more proactive and preventative approaches to health, care and housing. Chief Executive Alyson Scurfield OBE represented TSA at the conference, connecting with members and international colleagues to discuss the challenges facing ageing populations, growing workforce pressures and increasing demand for services. Alyson also chaired the panel discussion, ‘The Global View: Ageing, Technology and Policy Innovation’, which explored how technology, housing and new models of care can help people live independently, safely and well for longer. Drawing on experience from the UK, the discussion considered the shift from reactive services towards more proactive, preventative and personalised support, alongside the role of data and emerging technologies in identifying risk earlier and improving understanding of individual and population needs.
16
The conference also provided an opportunity to learn from approaches being developed internationally and strengthen connections across the global Technology Enabled Care community. A number of TSA members attended the conference, including representatives from Cognitive Systems Corp., Essence Group, Mobius Networks, Seenyor, Telecom Design, Tunstall Healthcare and Yokeru. TSA was also delighted to see member Cognitive Systems Corp. recognised with the Innovation of the Year Award, celebrating the impact of its work. The visit provided a valuable opportunity to share progress in the UK while bringing international insight and learning back into TSA’s work with members and the wider sector.
A D V E R T I S I N G
Join Us in TEC Voice Align your brand with TEC Voice, the only dedicated publication in TEC, and engage a dedicated, receptive audience that can transform your business. Secure your space today and connect with leaders shaping the future of Technology Enabled Care.
Contact Us marketing@tsa-voice.org.uk With an engaged readership and limited, high-value advertising opportunities, your message will reach those making impactful decisions. Don’t miss this exclusive chance to be part of TEC’s only dedicated magazine! 17
The industry and advisory body for technology enabled care
Embedding quality, safety and innovation in technology enabled care
TEC Services Association Address: Suite 8, Wilmslow House, Grove Way, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AG Telephone: 01625 520 320 TSA: www.tsa-voice.org.uk TEC Quality: www.tecquality.org.uk