Glasgow Panel Review: Balancing Technology and Human Connection

Lorán Murray, Marketing Manager, Care Planner 

19th May 2023

I’ve been attending Care Roadshow events for a few years. In fact, the very first social care event I attended was a Care Roadshow. That was in Birmingham, December 2019, right before…well, let’s not dwell on that.

My favourite aspects of Care Roadshow events are the seminars due to their precise and relevant topics and their insightful speakers. It was at a Care Roadshow event that I first heard Nadra Ahmed OBE, Executive Executive Chairman for the National Care Association and Dr Donald Macaskill from Scottish Care speak.

Imagine my surprise when they invited me to participate for the first time! As chairperson, my role was to provide questions and enjoy my front row plus seat to the answers, which was a delightful experience but did include more elephants than I anticipated.

In Glasgow earlier this year I had the pleasure of chairing another discussion, this time on a topic very close to my company’s heart, ‘The balance between technology and human connection’. The panel consisted of Quality Compliance Systems Head of Social Care Content Lindsay Rees, Scottish Care’s Technology and Digital Innovation Lead Nicola Cooper, Abbey Court’s Care Home Manager Brian Murray and Activist Peter Hope. A treasure trove of speakers to explore the ambitions and realities of balancing technology and human connection in modern social care.

The panelists discussed both their personal and professional experiences in a wide-ranging yet focused discussion. It is true that technology holds great power, both as a personal tool for bringing autonomy and dignity to individuals, and as a collective tool for changing whole communities and the very nature of care itself.

Therefore a measured and responsible approach must be taken to its application, a process that must always be done in partnership with the people who define care. The importance of ‘Why?’ was frequently returned to. You must know why you are doing something, and it must be common knowledge. When we know the purpose of something it is far easier for us to understand its potential, and for us to contribute to it.

In Liverpool we will be reprising the topic, though with a new panel and audience. I will be joined by Amrit Dhaliwal CEO at Walfinch, the NHS Transformation Directorate’s Tommy Henderson Raey, and NHS Public Governor & Co Production Advisor Mark Dale. I am particularly excited to hear what the audience has to say on the topic too. My favourite part of being on these panels is when we open the discussion up to the attendees, as you never know what you’ll learn, or how long it’ll make you think about elephants on your way home!

I have also written a blog post on CarePlanner’s website with some of the key takeaways I had from the panel discussion in Glasgow which you can access here.