A pivotal moment for social care

The Prime Minister’s recent speech on social care recognised what everyone working in and around social care already knows: the current model is unsustainable, unfair and deeply human in its consequences. The commitment to a National Care Service integrated with the NHS, a fair pay agreement for the workforce, and genuine cross-party talks is a welcome reset. 

But as the speech rightly stresses, social care must be “person-centred” and “preventative” in character, not over-medicalised or confined to 15‑minute task slots that push people into A&E and corridor care. That demands new models of delivery, new tools, and new partnerships. 

This is where local authorities, communities - and the right kind of AI - have a critical role.

Putting place, people and communities first

At Datnexa, we work with local authorities and NHS partners to design social care solutions that start with place and people, not technology. The Prime Minister emphasised that social care does not live in its own silo - it is intrinsically linked to the NHS and to the lives of families, carers and communities. 

Our approach reflects that:

• We build with and for local authorities. Oscar and our social prescribing chatbot are configured to local priorities, pathways and voluntary sector assets - so residents are signposted into local support, not generic national services.

• We strengthen community resilience. By connecting people to community groups, peer support, cultural organisations and voluntary services, we help prevent isolation and crisis, rather than responding when it happens.

• We respect whole-person care. The Prime Minister highlighted “whole person care” as the gold standard. Our tools are designed to surface the social, emotional and community context of an individual’s life, not just their health and care needs. 

A National Care Service cannot be built centrally in isolation. It must rest on empowered, data-informed local systems that understand their residents and their neighbourhoods.

Oscar and the social prescribing chatbot: practical enablers of reform

The speech sets out three core directions: an integrated National Care Service; a stronger social care workforce; and consensus for lasting reform. Oscar and our social prescribing chatbot are practical, already-deployed tools that can help make those ambitions real. 

1. Freeing staff to do what only humans can do

The Prime Minister spoke movingly about the skill, compassion and professionalism of care workers - and the injustice of poverty pay for such demanding roles. Yet those same staff are often overwhelmed by paperwork, phone calls and fragmented information. 

Oscar and the social prescribing chatbot:

• Handle routine queries and navigation. Residents and families can self-serve 24/7 for information on eligibility, assessments, local support, and how to get help - reducing inbound calls and emails that currently consume frontline time.

• Automate structured triage. The chatbot gathers key information safely and consistently, guiding people through initial questions so that social workers and link workers receive a clearer picture before first contact.

• Coordinate signposting. Instead of staff searching multiple systems or relying on personal knowledge, Oscar can surface relevant local resources, groups and services instantly.

This doesn’t replace human judgement. It protects it. When administrative burden and low‑value demand are reduced, care staff can focus their time on conversations, relationship-building and complex decision-making -  the “whole person” work that is uniquely human.

2. Delivering genuinely preventative, person-centred support

The Prime Minister was explicit: social care must be preventative, integrated and focused on home and independence wherever possible. That requires early identification of risk, consistent follow-up, and easy access to community-based support. 

Oscar and the social prescribing chatbot help authorities:

• Identify needs earlier. Residents can describe emerging issues - loneliness, anxiety, caring stress, housing or financial worries - to the chatbot before they reach crisis. That creates new “soft data” signals for teams to act on.

• Make social prescribing easier to access. By embedding social prescribing pathways into a simple, conversational interface, people can be matched to activities, groups and support that maintain wellbeing and independence.

• Support home-first care. Where the PM called for a principle of home care wherever possible, our tools help people and carers find practical help and community support that makes staying at home viable and sustainable. 

The outcome is a shift away from reactive, crisis-led interventions towards proactive, community-based support that keeps people well and connected for longer.

Rooted in local authority partnerships

The speech highlighted that councils are often only able to fund “15 minute slots”, with predictable consequences for families and for the NHS. Technology cannot fix funding, but it can help local authorities use finite resources more intelligently. 

In our work with councils:

• We use local data responsibly to understand demand patterns, unmet need, and service utilisation - helping commissioners invest in interventions that reduce A&E attendances, delayed discharges and carer burnout. 

• We co-design pathways with practitioners, carers and voluntary sector partners, ensuring that Oscar and the chatbot reflect real practice rather than abstract policy.

• We align with local strategies for prevention and independence, including Better Care Fund priorities, public health objectives and community development plans.

This is not AI in isolation - it is AI as a practical part of place-based system change.

Human-centred AI, not technology for its own sake

The Prime Minister warned against over-medicalising care and stressed the importance of person-centred relationships. At Datnexa, we share that view. Our philosophy is simple: 

• AI should take away work that doesn’t need to be human - repetitive questions, form-filling, basic navigation - so humans can spend more time where they are irreplaceable.

• AI should make the system simpler to understand, not more complex - especially for families who are already exhausted by caring, and for staff managing high caseloads.

• AI must be ethical, transparent and accountable - particularly in the public sector context. That includes clear guardrails, robust governance with local authorities, and constant attention to equity and inclusion.

Oscar and the social prescribing chatbot are examples of this philosophy in practice: tools that extend human capacity rather than compete with it.

Working together to build the National Care Service

The Prime Minister has framed social care reform as a test of our political and media culture, and of his own leadership. Datnexa believes it is also a test of how we use technology in the public interest. 

We stand ready to work with local authorities, NHS partners, voluntary and community organisations, and national government to:

• Demonstrate how AI-enabled tools can support the new National Care Service’s aims of integration, dignity and security.

• Scale social prescribing and preventative support, using Oscar and our chatbot as trusted, co-designed front doors to care and community.

• Free up the social care workforce - whom the Prime Minister rightly describes as “an essential enabler of reform” - to do the relational, person-centred work that defines quality care. 

If we're going to do it differently this time, reform must be grounded in place, rooted in communities, and powered by technology that understands that care is ultimately about human relationships. This is the future of social care that Datnexa is committed to building.