The Future of Care

It’s closer than we thought. After a day discussing the future, we’ve concluded that the ideas and research are ready and the longstanding demand for change will soon be met. From now this could happen at a revolutionary, rather than evolutionary, pace and those that don’t commit risk being left behind.

The conference focussed on two key areas: workforce development and innovation.

Workforce development

Sally Gretton, head of area for Skills for Care, gave a very insightful talk on managing staff turnover through training and development. By having clearly defined development and progression pathways within your organisation you will be able to attract and retain high quality staff while continually upskilling them to provide better quality service.

Discussing a new and innovative approach to branding as a way of attracting staff and developing loyalty, Dr Charles Armitage, CEO of Florence, highlighted the importance of consulting the workforce about what they want from a job in care. This is an important step in removing the stigma associated with roles in the care sector, to motivate and attract staff.

Innovation

Innovation was the subject of the afternoon panel debate; led by providers, they shared their own experiences and ideas including how to integrate technology to existing services and how to future-proof new developments. Robotics and AI (artificial intelligence) were discussed and the general consensus is that they will never replace human touch, but will be a vital support in the not too distant future.

Closing the conference was a truly inspirational presentation from Roland McMorran, Director of Architectonicus, during which he told us about his approach to designing the ideal living environment to promote well-being for people with dementia, focussing on the basics of human interaction and avoiding the pitfalls of common assumptions in building design.

Tendering for care contracts

The health and social care sector makes up around 30% of all of the bids that we write at Executive Compass. As such we have dedicated bid writers to support our care clients and are very experienced in a number of different areas, including: domiciliary care, extra care, supported living, drug and alcohol rehabilitation and reablement care.

We see a high level of competition in bidding for care contracts, with a lot of buyers using large frameworks to access different providers, either regionally or nationally. Due to the service itself, the tenders do need to be thorough to ensure that the authorities are selecting care providers that are suitable, safe and regulated. As such, we are proficient in the topics covered in care tenders and can provide support throughout the PQQ and ITT process.

For more information, please see our service page or contact our team today.