Impact of AI preventative care in adult social care across London borough shortlisted for Digital Impact Award by London Government Chronicle
This year’s prestigious LGC Awards will be held on June 11, 2025 at the JW Marriott Grosvenor Hotel on Park Lane in London. The event aims to celebrate and share best practice across local government, raising the morale of hard-working council teams across the country.
Photo by Giorgio Trovato / Unsplash
More than a thousand entries were made to this year’s 22 categories – the most received since the awards began 29 years ago. The judges, who are senior leaders in the sector, will be looking for outstanding achievements in such areas as service transformation, digital innovation, and partnership working.
Among the shortlisted entrants is the London Borough of Sutton for its work in technology-enabled care (TEC), on which we reported last month.
The system, provided through partnership with Access TEC and Medequip Connect, is based on the Access Assure Home Hub which used ‘Activities of Daily Living’ (ADL) sensors and AI to monitor a person’s health and well-being, detecting changes in routine that may indicate emerging health concerns.
Where such changes are noted, the system alerts carers, enabling early interventions before things get more serious. That means reducing the risk of falls and numbers of admissions to hospital. Indeed, according to the council, the TEC system has, since launching in August 2023, prevented more than 1,000 ambulance callouts.
That relieves pressure on health and social care services, supports carers and helps the person in question to lead a more independent life.
The TEC service will soon be expanded across Sutton Housing Partnership’s independent living schemes, to benefit more than 500 further residents. The London borough has also pioneered a community shop where residents, families and care professionals can explore how TEC works in practice. The shop is helping to foster engagement with the system, supports training and offers private-pay options for early intervention. In this way, TEC is being made more accessible to the whole community.
Andy Sparkes, Managing Director of Access TEC, says: ‘This recognition highlights how digital innovation, when implemented with care and collaboration, can transform lives. Sutton’s forward-thinking approach is setting a new standard for proactive, preventative care—keeping residents safer, families reassured, and professionals empowered. We’re incredibly proud to support this programme and look forward to expanding its impact even further.’
Sarah Calkin, Editor of LGC editor, adds: ‘We received almost 1,000 entries to the LGC Awards 2025, making it another record-breaking year and meaning all those on the shortlist should be extremely proud to have made the cut. A huge thank you to our judging panels of senior council officers who have tirelessly sifted through all the entries on top of extremely demanding day jobs.’
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