By Sam Hussain, CEO and Co-Founder at Log my Care. Sam explores how connecting data-driven rostering with care management is transforming the social care sector, reducing burnout, and cutting turnover rates by enhancing work-life balance and deepening relationships.
The challenges for the social care workforce
The social care sector is no stranger to digital transformation. Since the government set the ambitious target to get 80% of care providers using a digital care record by March 2025, only 30% remain entirely paper-based. There’s no denying that going digital has benefited the sector, with reduced administrative burden, less time spent deciphering hand-written care records and lengthy handovers, and more oversight for care providers.
Care leaders committed to delivering person-centred care know the journey towards digitalisation must continue if the sector is to overcome the ongoing challenges of staff shortages and a burned-out social care workforce. A poll of 716 Social Workers Union (SWU) members, commissioned by the Independent in January and February of this year found that 86% of social workers suffer from stress at work, 62% say their mental health is suffering because of work and half of those surveyed stated they were considering leaving the sector. Embracing technology can alleviate some of the strain on our social care workforce by offering better work-life balance, reducing burnout, and supporting carers in delivering high-quality, person-centred care.
This crisis in care doesn’t just affect our social care workforce but has dire consequences for the people they support. Age UK estimates that 2 million people aged 65+ have unmet needs for care and support, leaving many without essential daily assistance, and Mencap’s Why We Care Report found a third of learning disability support workers had left the sector for good. The crisis has a ripple effect across the health sector as well. The number of GPs isn’t keeping pace with our ageing population, people are stuck in hospital beds because of a lack of community-based care, and A&E services are struggling to pick up the slack.
How can data-driven rostering improve the sector?
Relationships are undisputedly at the heart of social care. The Independent’s report found that 8% of social workers who were considering leaving the sector have agreed to stay on and help those people they support. Data-driven rostering can deepen those relationships even further, building trust through consistency of care, and increasing job satisfaction among carers who can see the impact their work has on the people they support.
Rostering systems that connect with care management platforms can use tools like data-driven matching, saving time and money by ensuring care providers can easily match staff based on whether they’re part of an assigned care team and their relationship and familiarity with the people they support. This also reduces administrative tasks for care managers, ensuring there are no gaps in care or overlapping events. With the ever-shifting nature of care, rostering enables quick responses to staffing changes or service user needs, meaning care delivery is always uninterrupted and adaptive.
Care leaders who want to ensure their rota management system prioritises person-centred care should consider:
- Skills matching: Does the carer have the right expertise to meet the specific needs of the person being supported?
- Consistency: Are the same carers assigned to the same people to build trust and familiarity?
- Relationships: Are you prioritising continuity by assigning carers who have already built strong, positive relationships with the people they support?
Reducing turnover and burnout in social care
According to Skills for Care, the overall turnover rate for adult social care in 2022/23 was 28.3%. Almost double the UK average employee turnover rate of approximately 15% a year. Through supporting workplace wellbeing, care leaders can reduce burnout and turnover in social care.
With rota management, care providers have oversight of the staff who continuously pick up overtime and extra shifts. This makes it easier to mitigate risks to their health by encouraging work-life balance and not overly relying on them.
Care leaders can encourage work-life balance by:
- Not relying on the same carers to pick up overtime or cover last-minute shifts.
- Using a rostering system so carers know in advance when they’re working and who they’re working with, so they can plan their personal lives.
- Offering flexible working – shorter shifts and varied contracted hours, etc.
- Encouraging breaks and time off.
A healthy workforce is a happy workforce. By reducing burnout in social care, care leaders can help their teams reconnect with their values, and focus on learning and development, leading to a more fulfilled, engaged social care sector.
Next steps for leaders implementing rota management
While connecting rostering with care management can reduce burnout and turnover in social care, there are some key considerations for care leaders who want to make the change.
- Speak to staff
Like with digital care management, engage the staff that rostering affects before putting new systems in place. Gather feedback on their needs to ensure your new system meets their practical, daily demands.
- Assess your existing workflows
How are you managing rostering at the moment and how can it be improved? What pain points would you like a new system to address? Consider things like last-minute shift changes, overtime or high turnover.
- Implement a system that is easy to use
If your team has just adjusted to digital care management, introducing an additional system might not be easy. Make sure it’s easy for managers to create rotas and carers to see their shifts and assigned visits, and the needs of the people they’re supporting. Instead of adding an integrated system, consider one that is already connected to your care management platform.
- Make sure it has the functionality to grow with you
You want to make sure your rostering system is up to the task no matter how many staff you employ or how many people you support. Make sure your rota management system has the flexibility to grow with your organisation while still being straightforward to use.
- Set goals and measure success
Have clear goals for what you want to achieve with your rota management system. Monitoring metrics like shift attendance, employee overtime and absences can help you understand if you’ve been successful at reducing staff turnover and burnout.
For care leaders committed to improving the sector, the transition to data-driven rostering isn’t just about furthering our digital journey. It’s about deepening relationships and improving work-life balance among carers to overcome high turnover and workforce burnout. For successful implementation, care leaders must engage and gather feedback from staff and consider user-friendly systems that connect with their existing platforms and can meet their future needs.
As social care continues to face workforce challenges, adopting data-driven rostering is a proactive step towards creating a more resilient and satisfying work environment for carers. This will lead to higher quality care for the people receiving support, a reduction in operational costs due to lower turnover rates, and a stronger, more sustainable social care system.
