eFileCabinet
Document Management Software
Social Care Industry
The social care sector in the UK is currently experiencing monumental pressure and a staggering set of challenges.
- Increase in demand
- Increase in regulation
- Greater longevity
- Rising costs
- Greater social expectations
- Deferred health provision
- Rising demand for skilled staff
Care providers seemingly struggle to balance the demands of compliance whilst providing optimal care.
Barriers to Quality Care
A recent survey conducted by eFileCabinet showed that the respondents clearly felt that a lack of staffing was the primary barrier to providing high quality care, followed by the administrative burden.
If costs were irrelevant, this problem would be far easier to solve, but all providers aim to provide the best care possible at a manageable cost.
A recent survey conducted by eFileCabinet showed that the respondents clearly felt that a lack of staffing was the primary barrier to providing high quality care, followed by the administrative burden.
The primary challenge may be the general lack of staff to resident ratio or the ability to recruit, onboard and train staff fast enough to be effective. All this while making an effort to retain their more experienced staff, the pressure has never been higher on providers to remain effective in an industry with an overall shortage of labor.
Most care providers likely feel this pressure to some degree. Economies of scale will make some elements easier, however larger businesses tend to be slow to respond to market environments and can have an excess of costly middle management.
The impetus then must be on how to be more effective and efficient with the resources available.
Transformational Leadership
We don’t want to work people harder since that reduces quality and increases burnout, so there are two other pillars we can lean on.
We can look at changing the processes in place to provide some marginal gains.
If we use technology as a catalyst this can enable a broader change in how people can approach the work as well as the administrative burden of the processes.
However, technology alone cannot be the all-in-one solution. Tech as a solution without major changes in how people look at processes and systems can alienate good workers. After all, the key to good care is the people. Technology can only enable them to work more efficiently and only if their role is shaped in a way to accommodate it.
The change must be led from the leadership team, with the intent that it will lead to better care, happier residents, and more productive staff. This will also drive a positive commercial impact.
Be aware that you can only go so far and so fast with restructuring. This is where your change program needs to be considered carefully. Take a crawl-walk-run approach with your staff in order to be successful. Communicate that open-mindedness to changes in processes will positively impact their roles and the provider, giving them the ability to focus on the real work of home care.
Most care providers likely feel this pressure to some degree. Economies of scale will make some elements easier, however larger businesses tend to be slow to respond to market environments and can have an excess of costly middle management.
Return on Investment
Does the Care Sector Use Enough Technology Solutions?
Care providers recognise that more can be done and that an overwhelming need to embrace technology will further aid in providing the best care.
Embracing change allows you to become more adaptable and flexible.
Time Spent on Administrative Tasks
Looking further at the survey data shows us where providers are spending their time on administration versus 1:1 care time.
It is clear a significant proportion of time is being expended on compliance and administration, which is necessary, but is taking away from the actual care provision. It is legally mandated to oversee compliance and other back office tasks, but it disproportionately pulls caregivers’ attention away from actual care. If you can get those two things in balance, then you’re in a much better place.
Summary
“Change is the one certainty of life, and pain is the agent of change, it forces you to wake up and see the world differently, and the discomfort of it forces you to see the reality of it. It’s through pain that we learn, personally and also universally.”
As mentioned above, take a crawl-walk-run approach and a long-term view on what a change program would look like. Listed below are some recommendations.
- Clear communications with staff so they understand the why behind the changes.
- Have a clear sponsorship from the leadership team or board. No initiative survives without someone championing it.
- Don’t try and change everything at once. It will cause too much strain in the system.
- Start by putting in place a solution that provides the practitioners with access to the right information from which to make their best decisions.
- Ensure there is a good enablement program so that everyone can go on the journey.
- Celebrate the successes but look at the challenges as learnings.
- A one size fits all approach is unlikely to work.
- Empower your workers with the ability to enact change and optimise processes for the better.
- Look for the low hanging fruit. What are the things that can be improved quickly and most easily?
- Prioritise the areas that are causing the biggest pain to the organisation.
- Put in place a roadmap for the evolution of your organisation.
- This is a people-first business, none of this matters if we can’t help people feel more human.
At eFileCabinet we have run thousands of projects across a number of different verticals, including healthcare and pharma. We have a proven methodology and approach that de-risks the change and helps the organisation shift.
We also have a number of documented use cases where we can advise on best practices for your organisation these might be for example:
Employee Files
- Training plans
- Certifications
- Onboarding Processes
Patient Records
- Care plans
- Care Records
- Evidence Capture
- Policy Documents
- Contracts etc
- Compliance and audit across the organisation