Angus Honeysett, Market Development Director at Tunstall, has been re-elected as Chair of techUK’s Social Care Working Group. Here, Angus reflects on what the Group has achieved and where it will focus next.
I’ve worked closely with techUK for five years through the Social Care Working Group and the Health and Social Care Council, and I’m delighted to continue as Chair. I believe in the value of bringing different perspectives together to influence policy and tackle the challenges facing social care. At a time of significant reform, that work matters more than ever.
Across health and care, attention is shifting towards prevention, support closer to home and greater independence. Technology has a central role to play, but transformation takes more than delivering the same services in digital ways. It requires cultural change, collaborative leadership, decisions grounded in evidence and a steady focus on outcomes.
The Social Care Working Group provides a place for people across technology, commissioning and care to have those conversations openly. We share what has worked, learn from what hasn’t and consider how services can be designed around the needs of the people who use them. Done well, that leads to better experiences and better use of public money.
The Group’s discussions are intended to lead to practical change. In June 2026, we published Why digital adult social care transformation is central to the future of the NHS, a white paper developed through the Group and launched at techUK’s CareTech Conference. It sets out how digitally enabled social care can support the ambitions of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan.
That work gives us a foundation for what comes next. In 2026/27, the Group will:
- Show how digitally enabled social care can support the NHS 10 Year Health Plan’s three shifts: from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.
- Explore the role of technology in neighbourhood health, including how consumer wearables could support prevention and independence.
- Build the evidence base and work with national bodies on interoperability, standards and reform.
- Bring local and national health and care organisations together around the problems they need to solve.
- Share learning across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, recognising that each nation has its own approach to reform.
There is real momentum behind digitally enabled social care. Our task now is to connect policy ambition with the practical changes that improve people’s lives. By listening across sectors, testing ideas against evidence and keeping the person at the centre, the Group can help shape services that are more joined up, more preventative and better able to support independence.
We’ve made a strong start. There is much more to do.
