The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 17th October 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support the digitisation of adult social care.
Lord Markham (Con, Department for Health & Social Care): We are funding a programme of digitisation for adult social care that is delivered through integrated care systems having spent £50 million so far and investing a further £100 million over the next two years.
This investment is targeted at driving up adoption of digital social care records and other proven care technologies, while improving the foundations for digital working across the sector, including digital skills, cyber security, and connectivity.
We have made good progress so far, increasing adoption of digital social care records by Care Quality Commission-registered providers from 40% in December 2021 to over 55% today; and over 60% of people now have a digital social care record, enabling care teams to have the right information at their fingertips to deliver safe, outstanding care.
We are also supporting local systems to identify and invest in care technologies that address local population needs and priorities, while developing a robust evidence base on effective care technologies to inform future investment decisions.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what measures exist to support effective suicide (1) surveillance, and (2) prevention.
Lord Markham: The National near Real Time Suspected Suicide Surveillance system will be live by the end of 2023. Its reports will act as an early warning system for indications of change in suicides through analysis of data on suspected suicides.
Everyone has a role to play in suicide prevention and the Government published its new five-year, cross-Government and cross-sector suicide prevention strategy for England on 11 September 2023. The content of the strategy was informed by data, evidence, and engagement with stakeholders, including people with lived experience, and by the mental health and wellbeing plan call for evidence conducted in 2022.
The Strategy is a call for action for national and local government, the health service, and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, employers, and individuals to tackle suicide. It sets out over 100 actions from across a wide range of organisations to support our ambitions for suicide prevention.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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