Rethinking the Front Door to Adult Social Care
March 20, 2025
This article is part of our Digital Blueprint for Adult Social Care, a series exploring how technology and cultural change can come together to transform services. In this piece, we focus on the front door to adult social care – exploring how digital tools are enabling people, families, carers, and professionals to access the right information and support when they need it – at their first point of contact with social services.
The Challenge
Accessing social care support can be a complex and challenging process, particularly for people who are seeking support for the first time. Individuals who are unaware of the full range of support options available to them either go without support when they need it, or are unable to access the right services for them because they do not know what is out there. Even if information is available, it may be difficult to digest or find at the right time, which prevents people from seeking help early or from making informed decisions about their care.
This is why getting the ‘front door’ to adult social care right is so important. It should be a place where people are able to access the right support for them, when they need it – with access to self-assessment and self-service options. Where needed, good conversations happen at the first point of contact to understand the person’s strengths and what they want to achieve. Practitioners should be empowered to think differently and consider various interventions that could best support the person, including the community, Technology-Enabled Care (TEC) and equipment.
Yet, the demand for social care support continues to rise, and this increased demand places considerable strain on front door teams, posing a risk to their capacity to engage in high-quality, strengths-based conversations. Without fundamentally rethinking the route to accessing care, systems will continue to miss critical opportunities to prevent or delay crises resulting in greater dependency on formal care and increased long-term costs.
Better Tools, Better Practice
Digital innovation is changing this landscape. Whilst local authorities have often implemented digital tools in a fragmented manner, we’re now seeing a shift towards a more coherent digital customer journey. We’re helping local authorities to develop their own strengths-based ‘digital front door’ with the aim of making the process of accessing adult social care more streamlined, simple and person-centred.
Building on more ‘traditional’ digital tools such as the website and community directory of services, new elements are being introduced or enhanced such as:
· Interactive self-assessments for social care, Occupational Therapy and Technology-Enabled Care (TEC) that enable people to assess their own needs and determine their eligibility for various services, whilst also receiving tailored information and guidance.
· Digital portals and triage capabilities that can improve communication with people and professionals, whilst also ensuring that people are directed to the right support at the right time.
· AI-powered virtual assistants that can provide real-time support, helping to resolve low-level adult social care queries and sending relevant information directly to the person (via WhatsApp or their chosen contact method). This form of guided support enables people to quickly obtain personalised recommendations and resources, enabling them to access appropriate support more quickly.
The intention is not to replace face-to-face support for those that need it, but to give people greater choice and control about how and when they access information, advice and guidance. In our work we often start with adult social care, but once the benefits of these tools can be seen, they can be applied across other Council services offering wider corporate value.
Making It Work
For digital front doors to succeed, they must be integrated into a broader cultural reset within councils:
Co-production: Ensure people with lived experience are involved in design and testing to guarantee tools are genuinely accessible and beneficial.
Feedback loops: Establish ongoing feedback mechanisms from users, professionals, and staff to continuously refine digital tools based on real-world usage.
New ways of working: Digital transformation should drive process improvement rather than simply digitising existing workflows.
Strengths-based Approach: Digital tools should reflect strengths-based interactions typically seen in face-to-face engagements, fostering meaningful, person-centred experiences.
Impact Tracking: Utilise data insights to continuously measure and refine how digital tools influence outcomes, demand management, and workforce efficiency.
Most importantly, digital front doors should be embedded within council-wide strategies for prevention and early intervention, ensuring people consistently receive timely, appropriate support.
The Opportunity Ahead
Digital innovation at the adult social care front door represents a significant opportunity for change. With 87% of adults now accessing and procuring services online, expectations have evolved - citizens anticipate engaging with public services digitally as seamlessly as with shopping or banking.
Without adapting, we risk widening inequality, increasing digital exclusion, and falling short of public expectations. Implementing a Digital Front Door isn't about incremental improvement - it's about fundamentally rethinking access to adult social care through digital enablement.
This transformation requires bold leadership, innovative thinking, and a commitment to meeting the evolving needs of our communities. Embracing a digital front door isn't just better practice - it's essential for delivering meaningful, sustainable care in the 21st century.
To find out more about how you can build a more preventative model of care through developing a digitally enabled front door to social care, get in touch with the team.