We can’t be alone in noticing a huge uplift in the number of local authorities and NHS bodies procuring new digital systems for health and social care – many with the ambition of supporting care at home. Procurement portals and engagement events are full of buzzwords trumpeting innovation and transformation.
Good news for Alocura, right? After all, we’ve built Rostrata, a digital system to manage complex health and social care packages in the home. We’ll be perfectly honest, it’s not quite working out like that for us.
That’s not because our Rostrata solution isn’t the right one – we now have it in operation and know it works. It’s because commissioners seem to be more focused on replacing existing systems (which haven’t perhaps worked in any case) or hope to procure a single system which can operate across the spectrum of care planning and delivery. That’s not innovative, or transformational. Neither will it deliver expected outcomes; the first is really a digitalised ‘more of the same’ approach and the second, well, it doesn’t exist.
Commissioners are, effectively, putting the cart before the horse. They need to think carefully about the design of their digital care ecosystem, how different systems co-exist and what the data flows look like between them. That way, systems can connect, data moves freely and ultimately, proper insight and oversight into care management emerges. Understanding that will inform a procurement process that will deliver success.
Connectivity
There’s a natural tendency to equate the purchase of new systems with innovation. But many of the platforms now being bought have been around for years. They might help digitise a process, but they don’t necessarily change it. The same inefficiencies are simply re-engineered in digital form.
We believe real transformation begins with system design, where adjacent software co-exists and communicates through APIs and shared protocols. It’s about mapping data pathways before procurement – not after – so that case management systems, rostering tools, and finance systems can operate as one interconnected network.
The result? A care ecosystem that delivers reliable, real-time information about what care has been planned, delivered, and invoiced – eliminating the “data void” that currently leaves commissioners reliant on trust-based expenditure.
Common systems make operational and commercial sense
At present commissioners are ‘locked out’ of delivered care information because the data related to that activity sits with care providers. That’s the first thing that needs to change; part of the system design process should be built around common systems being used by all parties. This ensures consistency of data across activity. Commissioners need to ensure that their supply chains are using those common systems, not in a negative or big brother manner, but to ensure interoperability, consistency and importantly, open book working.
Common systems then mean common data structures, shared insight, and aligned accountability. They make it possible to track outcomes at individual, provider, and commissioner levels – linking every hour of care delivered back to a verified plan, a budget, and a need.
It’s a bold step. But as the NHS and local authorities push to deliver more care at home, and as the supply market strains to meet demand, this kind of integration isn’t just desirable, it’s essential.
Rostrata: Designed for the data journey
This is precisely where Rostrata sits apart. Unlike other rostering systems, Rostrata is designed around the provision of consistent data within the care process – collecting data at individual, employee, package, provider, and commissioner levels.
It operates not as a standalone platform, but as part of a wider care ecosystem, connecting case management, brokerage, treasury, and contract management processes through secure data flow.
By linking operational control with financial oversight, Rostrata helps commissioners and providers alike to manage care at home efficiently, transparently, and sustainably.
In a world where many talk about transformation, Rostrata delivers it, not through isolated procurement, but through purposeful integration.
After all, the future of health and social care delivery isn’t necessarily about more systems, it’s about smarter connections.