Digitisation is not about replacing care

One of the most powerful themes running through the conversation is a clear line in the sand. Digitising social care is not about automation for its own sake, and it is certainly not about replacing human relationships with machines.

Michelle is explicit. “I don’t think there is a world where we replace human to human care with technology.” Far from being anti-digital, her scepticism is aimed at approaches that misunderstand what social care fundamentally is. Care is empathy, presence and trust – and no system can replicate that without falling into what she describes as the uncanny valley.

Instead, digital’s role is protective. By improving access to the right data, supporting safer information sharing and reducing administrative burden, technology can give carers more time to do what only humans can do. As Michelle puts it, she is “the hugest advocate of anything that gives a person more time to just be a person.”

Phil reinforces this point. Digital is not the end of social care, it is the enabler of better care – helping staff do their jobs well, accurately and sustainably, without crowding out the human connection that defines the profession.

A sector unlike any other

The conversation also lays bare why digitisation in social care is so hard. Adult social care is vast, fragmented and extraordinarily diverse. There are around 20,000 organisations employing more than 1.6 million people, ranging from very small providers to large multi site organisations.

As Phil notes, digital skills vary widely, as do resources, infrastructure and workforce stability. Michelle captures the challenge memorably. Changing the NHS can feel like dropping a coin into a machine and watching it eventually reach the bottom. Trying to do the same in social care, she says, is “like putting your hands into a bag of feral squirrels and hoping for the best.”

There is no single route from top to bottom. Regulation ensures safety and baseline standards, but it does not create the conditions for best practice or transformation. Change depends instead on winning hearts and minds – showing providers why digital improves care, not just compliance.

Financial pressure, workforce churn and constant change

Digitisation is also taking place against a backdrop of acute pressure. Demand for care is rising, funding is constrained and the workforce is shrinking. Many providers are operating on thin margins, juggling recruitment, retention and quality under intense strain.

High staff turnover compounds the challenge – as Phil points out, digital adoption is not a one-off effort. New people are constantly entering the sector, requiring ongoing support, training and translation.

Michelle’s own journey illustrates this need for translation. She did not come into social care as a technologist, but as someone focused on outcomes. Her success leading cyber and data programmes came from reframing technical concepts in the language of care. “They don’t care about cyber and firewalls and APIs,” she explains. “They care about looking after people.”

This ability to translate digital into public value is what makes adoption stick.

Designing for public value, not checkboxes

A concrete example of this approach is the Digital Care Hub’s data policy builder, developed to tackle one of the least loved but most important parts of digitisation – policy and cyber compliance.

Rather than offering static templates that sit unread in folders, the policy builder guides organisations through a tailored process, producing outputs specific to their context. Crucially, it requires providers to engage and think, building understanding as well as compliance.

The result is resilience, not just box ticking. As Michelle explains, the goal is not simply to pass an assessment, but to make organisations genuinely safer and more confident. This is public value design in action – starting from the outcomes that matter, and designing tools that fit the reality of the system and the people within it.

The next 20 months: clarity, capability and caution

Looking ahead to the near term, both guests expect rapid change. Artificial intelligence looms large, but with a note of caution. Michelle describes the current moment as a Wild West, with organisations buying tools they do not fully understand, often labelled as AI without delivering real value.

Over the next 20 months, she hopes to see greater clarity – a better understanding of what technology is actually needed, and where it genuinely supports care. This is particularly urgent given looming reforms, demographic change and shifts in migration policy that will further constrain the workforce.

Phil adds that the most immediate opportunity lies in reducing digital friction. Automating note taking, scheduling and routine administration could save hours each day, making the case for digital tangible to frontline staff.

The next 20 years: a fork in the road

When the conversation turns to 2045, the tone becomes both hopeful and stark. Demographic change means there will be more people needing care than there are people available to provide it. Technology will play a role, but the direction it takes is not guaranteed.

Michelle frames the future as a fork in the road. One path leads to a system where carers are valued, supported by technology that lifts the profession and enables people to live with dignity in their own homes. The other leads to a stripped back system where only the most severe needs are met, with growing pressure on families and unpaid carers.

“The next five years will tell us where we’ll be in the next 20,” she warns.

What keeps leaders awake at night

The episode closes on a more serious note. Michelle identifies cyber risk as the issue that keeps her awake – not if a major incident will happen, but when. Social care currently lacks the infrastructure to respond at national scale, despite the growing frequency of attacks.

Yet the final message is not despair, but responsibility. The future of digitised social care will be shaped by countless small decisions made now – investments in capability, workforce support and tools that genuinely serve care.

As Eleanor reflects, technology must remain an enabler, never the point. If digitisation is done well, it can protect what matters most in social care – humanity, dignity and connection – and help realise a future where care is not just about staying alive, but about living well.

Make sure to listen to the full podcast episode on our Spotify channel, The PSC in Conversation, or on your preferred podcast platform.