Carematch, a technology-led service supplier for people who need care in their own home, is the latest company to join the PRSB’s Standards Partnership Scheme. 

CareMatch was founded in 2015 with a successful series of pilots with local authorities, which identified if using self-employed carers was a workable model and would address challenges that the social care sector faced, such as increasing demand for care services and slow adoption of technology. Since then, CareMatch has evolved to provide a digital platform which enables clients to easily find self-employed carers and discuss people’s care needs.  

At the moment, CareMatch is strongly focused on creating a roadmap for the platform which incorporates its vision to integrate with healthcare systems, so that social care data is embedded into the person’s record, providing a holistic view of their care. The company recognises the importance of information standards in achieving interoperability with other systems.  

Speaking on joining the PRSB Standards Partnership Scheme, Tim Chalklen, Chief Technical Officer at CareMatch, said: “We want to ensure that we conform to emerging information standards in the sector, so that it is easier to integrate with other systems that already follow them – and PRSB’s expertise and guidance will be key here. From our discussions with ICSs and ICBs, we understand how important it is to demonstrate commitment to following information standards, and we are looking forward to working on this with the PRSB. We also hope to gain a lot from networking events, providing us with opportunities to connect with healthcare system suppliers and keep-up to date with standards developments.” 

“Our first priority is to ensure that we conform to the About Me standard. We would also be interested in the Personalised Care and Support Plan Standard and in information standards focused on ensuring consistent data flow between healthcare and social care systems.” 

Lorraine Foley, PRSB’s CEO, said: “It is wonderful to see a surge in social care system suppliers joining the PRSB’s Standards Partnership Scheme and the growing awareness of the importance of interoperability between social care and healthcare records. I am delighted to welcome CareMatch as our new partner and am pleased to see their recognition of the role of information standards in achieving their goals.  

“Our team is looking forward to be working with CareMatch on achieving conformance against our information standards and creating more integrated health and social care together.”