Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of AI and assistive technologies in adult social care and elderly support services, in particular its impact on improving independence and quality of life for older people.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and assistive technologies can support people to live high-quality, independent lives for longer. Such technologies are already being used across adult social care by care providers and local authorities to enable more preventative and personalised care, save staff time, and improve care coordination.

To help assess the use of technologies in adult social care, the Government has funded testing and evaluation of technologies in social care, including AI-enabled technologies, through the Adult Social Care Technology Fund. Emerging evidence indicates positive outcomes for people in receipt of care, care professionals, and the wider health and social care system. People using technology experienced greater independence, safety, wellbeing, and quality of life. We will publish the findings from these projects.

The Government is committed to supporting safe and appropriate adoption of technologies in social care. We are setting new national standards for care technologies and producing trusted guidance, so that people can confidently buy and use technology which support them or the people they care for. To support appropriate use of AI in adult social care, we have published guidance for care providers on AI use cases and tips for safe and responsible use. We will be setting out the Government’s strategic approach to AI in adult social care, alongside its approach to AI in health, through the National AI Roadmap. We have also launched the Adult Social Care Assessments Improvement Toolkit to help local authorities find digital and AI-enabled tools to improve services and the quality-of-care delivery.