A report from Log my Care has revealed that the majority of respondents (53%) in a survey of carers, managers, owners and CEOs in the care sector, said they would be allocating 5-20% of their care service’s budget to implement new software or digital processes.
The impact of digital systems on care teams: using technology to solve the retention crisis report found that 43% of respondents showed an interest in investing in care compliance software. This was closely followed by care planning software at 40% as the most popular future investment choice.
These two tools were also named as the more commonly used digital tools in care services currently, with 46% saying they use care compliance software, and the same percentage citing care planning software.
The report highlighted that digital tools are strongly in demand, with just 1% of respondents saying they had no intention of investing in such solutions.
Rostering software proved to be the least popular choice for future digital tool investments – gaining just 18% of the votes.
According to Log my Care, 63% of respondents reported that digital tools save their team as much as 30 hours per week, with 21% saying they saved between 30-50 hours, and seven percent claiming to save up to 100 hours.
While the case for implementing digital tools is clear, there are still barriers to adoption that some care providers need to overcome. Fifty-six of the respondents said they had yet started to use digital tools – and the number one reason for this was concerns over having the staff and resources to manage the change (46%). A further 38% said they didn’t know how to implement them, while 21% shared their concerns over security.
Adopting digital systems in the care system can help to address the challenge of recruitment, by empowering teams and giving them flexibility and a good work/life balance. It is also crucial to help organisations navigate the evolving landscape of care provision more efficiently and effectively. The government is aiming to have 80% of CQC providers adopt a digital social care record system by March 2024, and to encourage this is providing £25 million in funding.