Digitally Well strategy

Vision and ambition

​​​​​​Background and context

North Tyneside’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy Equally Well 2021-2025 is the Boroughs high level strategic plan for improving the health and wellbeing of our people. It identifies that digital exclusion was one of the key factors in creating inequalities during the pandemic, in terms of people being able to connect to education and training, access better jobs, increase their social interactions and support their access to healthcare and statutory services. Forty percent of what makes us healthy is based on socio-economic factors; the parts of our lives that cover education, income, employment, family or social support, community safety, and digital inclusion.

The NHS long term plan is focused on making sure everyone gets the best start in life, access to world class care for major health problems, and support to age well. It acknowledges that making better use of data and digital technology is an enabler, ensuring that people have more convenient access to services and health information. The NHS Integrated Care System across the Northeast and North Cumbria, which includes North Tyneside, is committed to working together with the council and partners in the VCS to improve services and the health and wellbeing of residents.

The Better Together Strategy sets out how North Tyneside Council, NENC ICS and the VCS will work together to build strong and sustainable partnerships that makes North Tyneside a great place to live, work and visit. This well-established and trusted partnership approach will be key to reaching the right people and offering the right support to increase their digital access.

This strategy supports the strategic aims of the following:

  • North Tyneside Council’s Digital strategy
  • The North East & North Cumbria Integrated Care System: Digital Inclusion Strategy 2023
  • The Connecting Communities: A Strategy for Community Hubs and Libraries 2023 – 2028
  • The Raising Aspiration, Realising Ambition Strategy 2021-2024.
  • The NHS Long Term plan

This Strategy is underpinned by:

  • Understanding Digital Exclusion across North Tyneside February 2023
  • Digital Inclusion in North Tyneside: Residents’ views and practical solutions, March 2023
  • IPPR North’s Addressing digital exclusion in North East England 2021
  • NHS Digital’s Digital Inclusion guide for health and social care
  • Making health and care digitally inclusive: A review of policy and literature around digital inclusion in health and care 2022

What is digital inclusion?

Digital inclusion means having equitable access to and use of information and communication technologies to take an active role in social and economic life including education, social services, health, social and community activities.

In North Tyneside we want our residents and patients to have the skills, confidence, motivation, and capability to get online and enjoy the benefits of being online and using technology to improve their daily lives. 

What are the barriers to digital inclusion?

There are four main barriers to digital inclusion.

  1. Access: not having the ability to connect to the internet and go online
  2. ​​​​​​​Skills: not having the ability to use the internet and online services
  3. ​​​​​​​Trust: fear of online crime, lack of trust or not knowing where to start online
  4. ​​​​​​​Motivation: not understanding why using the internet could be relevant and helpful

Often the focus for tackling digital exclusion is on access to devices, connection to the internet and skills and training. However digital exclusion is more complex than this and people are rarely affected by only one barrier to getting online. Not having trust in the internet and being online, or not being motivated and not seeing the value in being online can be as significant.

It is true that people can be digitally included in parts of their life and then excluded in other parts. Using a mobile device is useful for accessing social media and connecting with friends and family, but it is less useful when carrying out online training or learning. Having a mobile phone contract with monthly data allowance keeps people connected, however if more than one person in the household needs to access the data it can quickly run out, and it can be costly to buy data add-ons.

​​​​​​​What we are trying to achieve

We want everyone in North Tyneside to ‘have the skills and capability to get online and enjoy the benefits of being online and using technology to improve their daily lives when they choose’

We want people to be digitally included by choice and not by default.​ People have told us this is important as they often feel forced to do things digitally or excluded by not being able to do things online. Being digitally included can improve your economic status and opportunities making it easier to find access education and employment. It can improve your health and wellbeing and support you to manage your health and lead a healthy lifestyle, and it can increase social inclusion and promote equal opportunity.

This strategy is directed by the following aims to deliver this ambition:

  • Proportionate universalism: action everywhere, with more targeted action where gaps and inequalities are widest
  • Capable workforce: ensuring our workforce and volunteers are adequately trained and understand their role in supporting digital inclusion and have the right tools to support people
  • Evidence-based decisions and actions: making decisions based on the best available data and research to target interventions to address inequalities and exclusion
  • Co-designed, inclusive and accessible for all: working in partnership with people, particularly those who experience health inequalities, to identify needs and design solutions
  • Innovation and maximising opportunities; maximising the opportunities to use existing and new technologies to benefit local people and communities

To do this we will:

  • Coordinate activities and services,
  • Carry out research and engagement,
  • Attract funding opportunities,
  • Collaborate and work in partnership, and
  • Design accessible services that get people online.

​​​​​​What’s already been achieved?

In 2021, the digital inclusion working group was established with colleagues across the Local Authority, the NENC ICS (previously North Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group) and local VCS organisations.

Due to national lockdowns and restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, efforts were focussed on keeping people connected and support was provided to:

  • Care homes, ensuring good quality digital connections whilst visiting restrictions were in place, allowing social work and health professionals to maintain contact and oversight of residents. Nhs.mail email accounts rolled out to care home managers to ensure secure communication, and funding for digital tablets improved social connectivity for care home residents and families
  • Children and Schools, to reach the most vulnerable children by providing laptops and connectivity to continue their education. Funding from the Department of Education provided 729 laptops and 162 4G Wi-Fi devices, and 1600 other devices to young people and Schools. Partners and the business community also provided another 760 laptops and devices
  • Residents, through doorstep support to get online linked with organisations and services providing support to access food and medication. Living Well North Tyneside online directory was launched to help signpost residents to local support and services
  • Community groups and organisations, through the North of Tyne Combined Authority funding to the Adult Education and Employability Service to give devices to local groups to support access to online training and employability support

As normal life resumed the focus was then on identifying the activities and support available to residents and patients to increase and improve their digital connectivity and tackle the barriers they face.

Many of our partners became members of the Online Centres Network through the Good Things Foundation giving residents better access to skills and learning to increase their digital skills. The North Tyneside Library service delivered the Community Digital Skills Pathway Support grant offering residents a device and Wi-Fi connection to keep, to help them develop their skills and access. They also supported 15,000 residents who were digitally excluded to access the Council tax rebate support offered to residents in early 2022.

The North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System in North Tyneside funded Northumbria and Newcastle Universities to undertake research in the borough, asking every household their digital capabilities and usage to gauge levels of inclusion. This research has improved our understanding of digital inclusion at a local level and will allow us to target support and activities in the right places and for those who need it most.

North Tyneside Council’s Employment and Skills service launched ‘Working Well North Tyneside’ in partnership with the NHS, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the local VCS to make it easier for residents to access employment and skill support as well as devices with support from ‘Digital Champions’. The service also worked with the VCS as well as small to medium businesses to support over 550 residents with digital skills training, through the Digital Outreach Project.

Partners from the Local Authority, the NENC ICS and local VCS organisations launched Living Well North Tyneside, an online directory that helps people find out about local services and support in their communities. This directory has helped bring together information in one central place for residents and professionals alike, ensuring people understand the opportunities around them.

VODA delivered the ‘Bridging the Digital Divide’ project offering residents access to online services and support at local community centres, faith venues and VCS organisation buildings. Just under 100 residents were supported with digital access and skills and following this work they developed ‘Help Me Be Digital’ which shifted the focus to community locations like shopping centres with more footfall, as well as one to one support and support within people’s own home.

In addition to all this work, the support offer to residents from the wider VCS continued to be delivered, offering skills, support, advice and confidence building to get online. This work has been mapped to understand the wealth of activity available at any time, but also to understand the impact and success of them.

​​​​​​​Learning from others

Engagement with key organisations has helped understand what interventions are necessary to tackle digital exclusion and the barriers people face. Working with partners locally, we now have a better understanding of how, where and when people want to be supported, and we know one size does not fit all.

Nationally we have looked at good practice.

  • 100% Digital Leeds work in partnership to improve digital inclusion, taking a ‘furthest first’ approach by working with health and care organisations to tackle the needs of those most digitally excluded first. This approach aligns with our strategic aim of proportionate universalism
  • Good Things Foundation is a social change charity that supports socially excluded people to improve their lives through digital. Through initiatives like the Online Centres Network, the National Databank and ‘Learn My Way’ training they have supported access and campaigned for more support to digitally enable people worldwide. Many of our partners are members of the Online Centres Network

Strong links have also been established with local, regional, and national groups and organisations who are working to tackle digital exclusion, including The Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria, the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), and the Cyber, Digital & Technology team at the Local Government Association (LGA).