The LOTI Sandbox in Adult Social Care is an approach that seeks to bring together key actors in the health and care system, to experiment with the latest tech, data and innovation approaches in solving key challenges in the sector.

By creating a collaborative, cross-sector space, the Sandbox enables a holistic approach to tackling complex challenges, refine ideas before implementation and gather evidence of the effectiveness of solutions. This structured approach is designed to overcome the barriers that often hinder innovation in local government, including limited capacity, high risks, and the need for scalable, impactful solutions.

We’re focusing on Adult Social Care given it’s a critical area for local government now, marked by rising demand and budget constraints.

In the long term, the ambition is to create a dedicated, physical space where borough officers can come together to take a holistic view of any area and test new innovations that can help solve some of London’s biggest challenges from social care to housing to climate change. More on the ambition and potential of such an approach can be found our blog.

Between Oct 2024 and Jan 2025, we started testing how this approach would work in practice – we think of this as the prototype version of the Sandbox.

Our Approach

Our cross-sector, collaborative approach has three phases:

1. Immersive Event – to identify challenges and opportunities across the system
2. Design Sprint – to bring to life the opportunities and ideas as tangible prototypes
3. Showcase Event – to present the designed prototypes including their impact

Here’s a short summary of each of these phases.

1. Immersive Event

On 3 October 2024, we brought to life the challenges by performing the journeys of two individuals who needed different types of care and support. The event also sought to bring to the surface the opportunities across the areas of tech, data, people and ways of working. The outputs from the day were a list of challenges and opportunities across the system.

2. Design Sprint

Between October and December 2024, the design sprint brought together colleagues to help turn those opportunity areas and ideas into more tangible working prototype concepts. The output was the list of concepts outlined below:

• Care Buddies: A volunteer program pairing individuals needing care with friends or family, equipped with tailored support packs to navigate the system and provide help.soc
• Plan My Care: A guided template inspired by birth plans, helping individuals plan their care needs, preferences, and support network before requiring services.
• My-ghty Magnet: A smart fridge magnet with a QR code storing vital health and care information, instantly accessible in emergencies by paramedics, care workers, or family.
• Care Compass: A simple, plain-language web portal providing clear and accessible information about adult social care options and pathways for residents and carers.
• Care Collaborators: A training program for health and social care staff to develop holistic knowledge and provide personalized advice on navigating care systems.
• Care Flow: A comprehensive system that streamlines referrals to adult social care with behavioral nudges, real-time updates for senders, and AI-powered backend tools for triaging and managing messages efficiently.

3. Showcase Event

On 29 January 2025, we’re planning to present the above working prototypes in action by showing the impact they could have in two individuals’ lives. You can sign up to attend by following on our events page.

The idea with this event is to inspire borough social care and digital leads to take action whether it’s by further iterating and improving these prototypes, implementing and /or procuring similar solution.

Next Steps

LOTI will be working with our partners to identify funding opportunities that best meet the unique needs boroughs.