Bournemouth: 26-28 November 2025
Exhibition stand C30
SCIE at NCASC 2025
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) will be attending the National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCASC) 2025 to share insights and showcase great examples of digital innovation, which are improving the efficiency of service delivery while enhancing the experience of those receiving care.
SCIE sees co-production with people with lived experience of social care as the essential ‘golden thread’ that must run through digital transformation, informing development of innovation and tech-enabled care from the outset to support best practice, and will share findings from a new survey ‘Shaping change together: co-producing innovation in social care’.
As social care leaders continue to face significant cost pressures, digital innovation offers huge potential. It helps social care workers to spend more time on critical tasks, delivering personalised care, and less time on administrative tasks, while providing more accurate information more quickly, resulting in better quality, more efficient and safer care.
Come and find us at NCASC Exhibition Stand C30 to discuss your needs with us, helping us shape our DHSC-funded delivery offer for 2026-2027.
SCIE launches new partnership with Lilli
SCIE and Lilli are launching a strategic partnership at NCASC to work with local authorities (LAs) and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) helping them to plan, implement and embed digital tools with confidence, including reducing avoidable and unplanned hospital admissions, such as for people with long-term conditions.
Together, we are passionate about early action and prevention, and how to accelerate the speed of return on investment (ROI) from technology through smart implementation to deliver better outcomes for those receiving care and support, while saving on costs and resource. Our offer will build on emergent outcomes and impact from SCIE and Lilli’s work with councils such as Bromley and Medway, saving millions in one year.
On SCIE and Lilli
Lilli and SCIE worked together to create a step-by-step implementation guide to help councils use digital tools confidently, offering practical advice and proven strategies, including advice from Medway Council on using this approach.
SCIE brings strategic expertise to ensure the quality and safety of practice and in-depth understanding of social care digital transformation, allowing us to tailor solutions to achieve the greatest impact for local areas. Lilli brings expertise in proactive technology and a deep understanding of how AI-driven home monitoring can be used to support evidence-based care packages, improve outcomes, and make savings for social care organisations
For example, in Bromley, solutions including Assistive Technology are expected to deliver savings of around £2million, keeping social care budgets sustainable in the face of ever-increasing demand and cost pressures. Medway Council is using technology to support many people to live safely in their homes for longer, considerably reducing higher needs care referrals, helping to prevent crisis events and achieving over £1.5m in cost savings in one year.
SCIE NCASC events
Wednesday 26 November
EY (Ernest & Young)/SCIE/BASW (British Association of Social Workers) drinks – at Sixty Million Postcards: 18:15-19.15
SCIE/BASW social care curry – at The 29029: 19:15 onwards
We are delighted to invite you to join EY, the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) for free networking drinks at Sixty Million Postcards (18.15 – 19.15) followed by SCIE and BASW’s Social Care Curry at The 29029 (19.15 onwards). Many thanks to EY (Ernst & Young) for kindly sponsoring the free drinks in advance of the curry. Please note that the SCIE and BASW Social Care Curry is pay for yourself, with an agreed fixed menu of £25 per head – spaces need to be reserved in advance to be sure of a place.
This is a relaxed informal event, giving you the opportunity to speak with SCIE, BASW and EY representatives and each other after a busy conference day, and we hope you can join us.
A little about us:
- SCIE, a leading not-for-profit charity whose income goes towards improving care, provides innovative consultancy, expert training, extensive resources and information and evidence-based insights for the continual improvement of social care. Our work covers a wide range from digital innovation and safeguarding to CQC support, including delivering a programme of improvement support for the DHSC, covering social care and public health services in councils, in partnership with Partners in Care and Health (the Local Government Association (LGA) and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS)).
- EY is a global professional services firm with a dedicated UK Local Public Services (LPS) team providing consultancy support across social care and health in the UK and internationally. They have extensive experience supporting Adult Social Care with diagnostic reviews, service model redesign, integration of transformation programmes balancing financial and regulatory considerations, and have particular specialisms in commissioning, market stewardship & management, and preventative-focused implementation.
- BASW is the professional association for all social workers across the UK. As a membership organisation we are a community of social workers working across the four nations where we provide training and CPD development, influencing legislation and policy initiatives, in addition to campaigning for and with the profession. As social workers, we form a welcome community where we shape together practice knowledge and policy guides together, with people with lived experience.
Please RSVP to this address asap as places will be reserved on a first come first served basis for drinks and for the curry.
Thursday 27 November
NCASC Fringe Event: Lilli and SCIE panel/drinks reception: 17.20 – 18.30
Venue : Purbeck Lounge, BIC
Preparing tech-enabled care for lift-off: empowering skilled teams with smart solutions
The future of tech-enabled social care is here. We have the learnings and now it’s time to take these regional success stories from siloed to scale.How do we get the most out of proven technologies like AI, whether as an assistant, enabler or support tool to enable it to scale to deliver the best outcomes for people who draw on care? And as technology becomes more widespread, what new roles, skills, competencies and personal attributes make up an ideal social care team?
This panel/drinks reception will launch SCIE and Lilli’s new partnership, share insights from Bromley’s digital transformation programme, including productivity and efficiency gains, and from Lilli’s work with Medway to support more people to live safely and independently at home. It consists of a short panel then interactive discussion and networking where we’ll explore real examples of co-produced digital innovation from Bromley and beyond.
Mental Capacity Act Workshop
Thursday 27 November
MCA/DoL Workshop, Tregonwell Suites: 09:30 – 10.30
Getting the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty right for children and young people
Use of the Mental Capacity Act for children and young people has grown over the last 12 years and is now a significant feature of children’s services practice. The MCA and Deprivation of Liberty is well established for adult social care. Getting it right for these children and young people is of critical strategic importance because these are some of the children at greatest risk within our care systems and they have a diverse set of needs. We, as leaders, have to adapt our systems to work within the law, uphold their rights and to ensure the best possible outcomes.
Our session will address these issues:
- National picture of demand for MCA and deprivation of liberty
- Strategic challenges for children’s social care
- Children’s rights – the right to safety and the right to freedom
- Legal literacy – the practice necessity
- Equity, diversity and inclusion – what do we know about this group of children and young people, do we know the right things, do we help in the right ways
- Real experiences – what are the stories from children and young people that can help us to build support
Merton Borough Council will share their views and learnings from their experience of addressing the issues above. By the end of the session, participants will have contributed to a living description of what good looks like that they can develop in co-production, in their own areas.
Q&A
Chair conclusion
Chair: Ellie Haworth, Head of Children’s Services Transformation and Improvement, SCIE
Speakers:
- Bev Hendricks, Director of Children’s Services, Merton Borough Council
- Vijay Patel, Head of Safeguarding, SCIE
Consultancy at SCIE
Our world-class client satisfaction ratings are a testament to our commitment to co-production, innovation, and impactful change. We are excited to bring our expertise and passion for tackling the most critical challenges in social care.
As an independent not-for-profit charity, SCIE is committed to sharing the best knowledge on what truly works, particularly through consultancy that maximises productivity and uses cutting-edge technology to improve people’s lives. Our consultancy services are exceptional value for money, with all income going back into improving social care.
Our collaborative approach means working closely with local authorities, a range of partners, and people with lived experience to provide high-impact consultancy, expert training, and evidence-based resources for the continual improvement of social care.
Discover how SCIE’s consultancy can help you achieve meaningful, sustainable results by visiting our consultancy page.
SCIE attended the National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCASC) in November 2024 to showcase our digital innovation around future care models. We offered insights and practical tools for improving social care.
Our reflections: NCASC 2024 blogs
Following on from an engaging and informative few days at NCASC, some of our staff attending the conference have been reflecting on a variety of the key themes and topics that emerged. You can read about SCIE CEO, Kathryn Smith’s thoughts on SCIE’s involvement in the conference, and also find out what Chris Dadson, SCIE Director of Business and Marketing thought about embracing change through being brave.
Tangible impact in digital innovation
SCIE’s digital innovation work has made a tangible impact. Our support for Bromley Council’s benefits includes a 30% targeted improvement in productivity across core operational processes, such as assessments, care planning, and reviews. Our world-class customer recommendation score speaks for our staff’s trusted expertise.
Additionally, our hands-on support for the Accelerating Reform Fund is helping local partnerships develop and grow innovations, including using digital tools in hospital discharge, carer-identification, and support for unpaid carers.
If you’re wondering how to engage with digital innovation, and would like advice, guidance or simply an exploratory chat on digital innovation or other challenges you face, and how we can support you, please contact us at: sciebusdevelopmentteam@scie.org.uk.
Workshops at NCASC 2024
We hosted two workshops designed to help local authorities and partners leverage technology and co-production for impactful change.
- Thursday 28 November, 14:20 – Strategic change and strengths-based approaches: Co-production every step of the way: Join us for an in-depth look at how co-production supports sustainable, strengths-based approaches.
- Friday 29 November, 10:45 – Accelerating Reform Fund: How to enable innovation in social care: Dive into strategies for fostering innovation and explore practical examples of success.
We co-hosted lunchtime chats with Partners in Care and Health. These sessions offered local authorities the chance to discuss their needs, helping us shape our DHSC-funded delivery offer for 2025–26.