Data-driven solutions

Matthew Foreman, Director of customer services, Your Homes Newcastle

A small panel of experts from a diverse selection of organisations are here to discuss the technological solutions they already have in place, and how they are helping to transform their ways of working, as well as the lives of their residents. Furthermore, how are technological advances from outside the sector driving change within it?

Technological support

Lee Sugden is chief executive at Salford-based housing provider Salix Homes. He explains that Salix is currently working on a new type of smart technology called MiiHome that puts sensors in people’s homes using Xbox Kinect technology, allowing a rich set of data to be collected on those most vulnerable and at risk by monitoring their activity. Working in partnership with Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Manchester and the University of Salford, the project is initially being piloted in homes where people have degenerative conditions, as well as in shelter schemes.

“It’s about releasing people through technology, so that we can support those who need help.” - Lee Sugden, chief executive, Salix Homes

“It’s about releasing people through technology so that we can support those who need more help. It really gives a rich set of data to the clinician so they know how to better treat the individual. It’s not so much ‘big brother’ as ‘little guardian’,” he explains.

Ian Matthews, Head of Eccella sales, NGDATA

Rachael Byrne is executive director of new models of care at housing association Home Group, which is partnering with the NHS to provide integrated health, housing and social care. Its Home View programme with Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust provides housing for those who no longer need to be in hospital but still require support.

“It’s about the small levels of independence we can create,” she explains. “Talking with families is pivotal. It’s vital for families to feel confident about the things you are putting in place.”

Home Group is also currently working on a programme involving a group of people who have agreed to have their vital signs monitored, which is then linked back to their GP. This, she says, gives the ability to intervene, and to stop something such as a heart attack from happening.

Ms Byrne picks up on the importance of outcomes when introducing any new technology: “The customers who signed up to it loved it, because at the end of the day it’s about protecting a life.”

Lee Sugden, Chief executive, Salix Homes

Debbie Trust-Dickinson, director of ICT and transformation at housing group Torus, adds that “propensity modelling” based on the data and intelligence collected allows the right support to be given to residents where needed. Torus is now tapping into its own data and intelligence to help develop its services: “We’re quite good at developing services that we think people will want, but we want to get to the position where this is evidence-based. In the past, we used external sources of data, but we realised that we’ve got a huge, rich stream of data of our own.”

Torus has invested in a head of data and intelligence role and a head of digital innovation position. The idea is to marry the evidence base and the intelligence with innovation and creativity, she explains, so as to create something that is based on behaviours and actions as opposed to suppositions. “Bringing those two things together can be quite powerful. It’s quite an exciting time for us,” she adds.

“In the past, we used external sources of data, but realised we’ve got a huge, rich stream of data of our own.” - Debbie Trust-Dickinson, director of ICT and transformation, Torus

So, is there a place in this for research organisations such as universities? Ian Matthews, head of Eccella sales at NGDATA, believes that university partnerships are vital. “The University of Surrey is doing amazing things in healthcare; technology that can be used in social housing. You’ve got to take the data and the researcher and put them together,” he says. “That’s pretty much our mission at NGDATA. Let’s take that data and use it to change things in three months, or six months – not three years later, when we’ll give you a report on how things might work.”

Ms Byrne believes that partnering with academics can create better opportunities. Some of the programmes that Home Group is trialling are as a result of working with the NHS, where evidence and the use of data is everything, she says.