Jon Healy spent 20 years as a carer. A year ago, a medical episode took most of his sight, and overnight his life was radically altered.

In this episode he talks about what that taught him. The everyday accessibility tools that turned out to be a lifeline. The job he can still do, just differently. And the surprising ways AI has opened up new work rather than just speeding up the old.

We get into the co-produced course his service users led, which snowballed into a graduation, a recipe book, a book club and a regular quiz. The practical AI wins, from a traffic-free walking route to a World Cup planner built for people who find reading hard. And his honest, measured take on where AI helps in care and where the human has to stay in charge.

Jon also shares the moment AI found a 1981 legal precedent and resolved a tribunal case without a hearing.

A warm, grounded conversation about care, technology and seeing the world differently.

Timestamps

00:00 Jon's story, 20 years in care

01:13 Losing his sight, and relearning everything

02:33 The accessibility setup that keeps him working

08:00 A new perspective: becoming an advocate

10:47 The course that snowballed into a graduation

17:41 How AI actually gets used, day to day

21:37 Advocacy at Parliament, and why care is undervalued

29:46 Where AI could go wrong in care

33:36 What good training looks like

35:31 The 1981 case law that won a tribunal

About David Mance

David Mance is an independent AI trainer and consultant, and the founder of AI in Social Care. He helps UK care providers adopt AI safely and effectively. Find out more at https://aiinsocialcare.com/

Most conversations about AI and the care workforce focus on risk, resistance, and what staff don't know. Katie Thorn, Head of Innovation at Digital Care Hub, makes the opposite argument: care workers already have the skills AI needs most.
In this episode, we talk about why communication and empathy are actually an advantage with large language models, the real reason a template AI policy doesn't exist yet, and what the government's "fully digitised by 2029" plan doesn’t go far enough.
Katie is also co-founder of the AI and Social Care Alliance – and we cover how that came about, the gender gap in care, job displacement fears, and what frontline workers really think about AI investment.
In this episode:
01:06 – What Digital Care Hub does (and what it doesn't)
04:07 – How the AI and Social Care Alliance came about
08:47 – Where to go if you want to get up to speed
10:01 – Communication skills as prompting skills
16:37 – Women are 20% more likely to live in digital poverty – and they're 85% of your workforce
19:00 – What a frontline worker said at the first Alliance roundtable
21:09 – Could AI job losses be a recruitment opportunity for care?
24:09 – Why Digital Care Hub hasn’t published a template AI policy (yet)
27:46 – Making AI governance work at board level
34:31 – What good employer-led AI training actually looks like
37:15 – Katie's background: growing up in a nursing home
40:27 – The expensive lesson from picking the wrong tech system
45:45 – Why "fully digitised by 2029" doesn't go far enough

Katie links
https://www.digitalcarehub.co.uk/
Podcast: Control Plus Care: https://www.digitalcarehub.co.uk/podcast/
AI in Care Alliance: https://aiincarealliance.co.uk/ [COMING SOON]

David Mance – CPD-certified AI trainer and consultant for the social care sector. Get resources and tutorials: https://aiinsocialcare.com/

Small providers make up 80% of the care home market, yet when it comes to technology and AI, they're often the last to get support. In this episode, I sit down with Samir Patel – care home owner, operator, and founder of the Care Home Digi Hive community – to talk about his 20-year journey from paper chaos to practical AI implementation.

Samir shares the lightbulb moments that pushed him toward tech, the £25,000 mistake that taught him everything about change management, and why he believes care homes should start with "back office" AI before touching resident data.

Whether you're a startup or a large provider, this conversation is packed with hard-won lessons on making technology work without overwhelming your team.

Find out more about the Digihive community: https://www.carehomedigihive.com/
Samir's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samir-patel-07684912/
Samir's podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@iCareServicesUK/featured
And on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKDdIwu5H9ke3dYOPdfu4?si=34c25c9a3559497a&nd=1&dlsi=c30ae3c960dc4482

David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mance/
AIinSocial Care tutorials, podcast and more: https://aiinsocialcare.com/