CQC have recently released their September 2020 Interim Guide to clarify what good digital records in Social Care look like and how providers can achieve this. It outlines the commitments CQC have made to support providers with the use of digital systems and what it is they will look for on inspection.

The Interim Guidance covers the following questions:

• What are the benefits of digital records systems?
• What does a good digital records system look like?
• What standards do digital records need to meet?
• How does CQC’s approach to COVID-19 impact this guidance?
• What can providers do to establish and maintain good digital records?
• What can providers expect from CQC?
• How will CQC inspectors access digital records on-site visits?

“Good quality records underpin safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care. They communicate the right information clearly, to the right people, when they need it. They are an essential part of achieving good outcomes for people.” Care Quality Commission

A few weeks back we shared an article about how data can drive social care specifically linking to the current climate with the pandemic and how a changed mindset to use data and share data, could ultimately lead to improved standards.

For us, providing a remarkable service sits at the heart of what we do, and we use data and digital systems to ensure we are able to deliver this consistently.

Since the start of the year, we have been on a journey to migrate all our paper-based processes to fully digitalised systems. In particular, we have digitalised and automated our full recruitment and onboarding process to ultimately increase productivity and enabling us to bring more quality candidates to our clients. What this has meant for our business is that for year 1 of using our fully digitalised systems, we are on track to achieve a saving of 5% across our total business process. Our ambitious targets are to improve in year 2 by up to 10% and in year 3 up to 15%.

Here are just a few examples of the key benefits we have achieved through digitalising and automating our processes that you could also replicate in your organisation:

• Ability to provide and quickly access ‘real-time’ and accurate information across multiple departments within the business, in turn, improving the quality of the service delivery.
• Increase in speed of administrative tasks due to automation which has allowed us to invest more time on well-being and building and growing relationships.
• Ability to spot trends in data and act on these insights quickly and effectively.

Digitalising our recruitment and onboarding process has in turn brought added value to our clients; ensuring we have more of the right people in the right places at the right time.

If you want to talk to us about how digitalising your systems can help bring productivity gains to your organisation, or learn how our digitalised systems can benefit you, please do get in touch.