Newcastle seeks to build online platform to help with assisted living

Council to consult with potential suppliers about digital system for helping citizens maintain independence

Newcastle City Council is seeking input on the construction of an online platform to help citizens with assisted-living needs carry out tasks independently.

The council is hoping to create a “web-based system which supports people to self-assess and find solutions to be able to carry out basic and more complex activities of daily living”. The platform will be used by those who have difficulty with day-to-day tasks including getting around inside and outside the home, dressing, and washing. It could also help those who have problems with hearing, eyesight, or memory, as well as people who suffer anxiety or feel unsafe at home.

“The council envisages that this will allow people, through a series of questions, to identify solutions to allow them to continue living independently at home,” the council said. “The solutions include exercises, advice, signposting to appropriate providers, referral to the Occupational Therapists team or other social care teams as appropriate for assessment, and further support including aids and adaptations.”


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The authority is holding an early-engagement event at the Civic Centre in central Newcastle on 27 February, where potential suppliers or partners will be invited to come and discuss their technology and hear more about Newcastle’s requirements. Each registered supplier will be given an hour-long slot to meet with the council on a first-come, first-served basis.

Potential suppliers are advised that the final website needs to provide appropriate advice for users, and pointers towards the relevant care services. It must also assist the council in gathering data on how the system is being used

The council added: “The system must offer a continuum of advice and information, which supports the requirements of the council’s statutory responsibility to provide advice and signposting on care services, as well as providing the council with a database of information on people living in Newcastle who have accessed the system, and data around the information they have accessed, which should highlight their needs.”

Suppliers that take part in the event later this month are advised that they must meet their own expenses. Representatives of any firms wishing to register should email Newcastle City Council commissioning and procurement officer Aaron Rush.

 

Sam Trendall

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