In an edition of Care Management Matters, they released a very interesting article on how data could drive social care.

Most Social Care providers still rely on paper-based systems, and whilst this may be OK for those who use them, there are many flaws with keeping paper-based records especially when it comes down to the of sharing information and guaranteeing the consistency of data.

During the coronavirus pandemic, there is no doubt that the Government made a mistake when moving COVID-19 positive people from hospitals into care homes. In many cases, no one knew that the person had COVID-19, but in some cases, the hospital did know and the care home was not informed. Mistakes will happen, but in this case, data could have saved lives. If records had been joined up between social care and health care then what the hospital knew would have been easily accessible to the care home. And, if the Government had known earlier about the mortality rate in care homes, they could have acted faster.

Often in healthcare, decisions are very data-driven, which can seem impersonal. However, it is possible to improve the quality of care through the use of data, without removing the person-centred approach.

Another example of when the additional burden is added in Social Care is through the inspection process governed by CQC. Things such as the capacity tracker enable CQC to gain visibility, however, this brings no benefit to the care provider. A changed mindset to use data and share data could ultimately lead to improved standards.

Here at AJ, remarkable service delivery will always sit at the centre of what we do and we use data and digital systems to ensure we are able to do this consistently.

If you want to talk to us about how our digital systems might be able to help your recruitment processes, please do get in touch.

As a specialist, family-run recruitment business, we support organisations to target issues such as continuity of staffing, reducing spend where you have a high volume of agency usage and supporting those who have specific talent requirements or are in hard to fill locations. We can help with any immediate staffing requirements or longer-term recruitment projects to ultimately save you time and money on agency spend.