Now we’ve had a week or so to digest the government’s 10-Year Health Plan for England, we’re surer than ever at Alocura that our end-to-end cloud based platform for care commissioners and health care providers, Rostrata, can be at the very heart of what is an ambitious and necessary vision for the future of the NHS and for health and social care services in general.
After all, the Health Plan talked about reinventing the NHS through some radical shifts; ‘from hospital to the community’ and from ‘analogue to digital’. And it was fascinating that the government wants these shifts to be powered by technology and a culture of transparency and accountability. By taking a different approach to NHS finances to what went before.
At Alocura, we have been talking about this for years. Ultimately, it’s why we developed Rostrata in the first place, because we could see that care in the home was being delivered so inefficiently, with little to no oversight. Not only did commissioners not know what they were paying for, individuals didn’t receive the outcomes they deserved from their care packages.
The policy ambition is clear and Rostrata can provide some of the solutions. But there’s also a challenge here that we’d like you to think about. Without structural change in how services are structured, procured and commissioned and the how frameworks are governed, the transformation the NHS is aiming for may not happen. What we’re calling for today is another fundamental change – to the commercial structure of care frameworks.
The NHS Plan and the promise of home-based care
The Plan rightly identifies that many individuals can and should be able to access personalised care in their home. And technology does now enable smart rostering of care staff, remote monitoring while they are working, real-time reporting and smarter decision making. Rostrata’s collaborative platform for care providers and commissioners is a living example of this potential.
But implementing these solutions at scale requires more than good software. It demands joined-up commissioning, common data standards, and a commitment to transparency that extends across all providers and funders.
Technology isn’t the bottleneck – commissioning is
So like we say, we already have technology that enables digital care records, remote care planning, workforce coordination, and live reporting. That’s what Rostrata does, right from the NHS number up. But what’s missing is the commitment from funders and care providers to work together to run a care package with a common system, working in an open book manner… together.
That way, everyone benefits. Commissioners know exactly how their money is being spent, and on what. Providers can run a far more efficient operation when they have full digital oversight at any time on the care packages they operate.
This is where the opportunity – and necessity – lies.
Driving a New Commercial Model: Common Systems, Common Outcomes
Yes, there’s always some unease when the phrase ‘commercial model’ is applied to care. But what we’re talking about here is the relationship between the commissioner, the provider and the individual themselves, for the benefit of all. It clearly does need to have a more commercial, contracted element to it if we are to make the NHS Plan a reality. Commissioners must lead a shift towards framework-based shared platforms with providers.
And the benefits are huge with Rostrata.
- Real-time transparency of care delivery
- Centralised insight into both workforce efficiency and patient outcomes
- Open accountability across the care ecosystem
So when we say frameworks need to be restructured, we really mean ‘reinvented’, that will also mean providers are selected not just for their services, but for their commitment to shared tools and standards.
Rostrata’s model is built for this: an open, transparent digital infrastructure that enables care providers, local authorities, and the NHS to work from the same data, in real time.
Commissioners have the power to drive this change, in fact it is incumbent on them to do so. By embedding the use of common systems into contracts and frameworks – and holding providers accountable to shared outcomes – they can unlock the kind of transformation and outcomes the NHS 10-Year Plan demands.
At Alocura, we’re ready to partner on this journey with people and organisations. But transformation won’t come from technology alone, as good as Rostrata is. It will come from brave leadership, smart commissioning, and a willingness to rethink how we procure and deliver care.