As we move into 2022, with the threats of the new Omicron variant and a steep incline of new COVID-19 cases, the healthcare industry is facing its challenging times again. Even though the healthcare and social care employees work around the clock and at full capacity, the rising number of infections have been adding pressure to an already stressful health sector.

In order to survive this health crisis of pandemic and overcome the challenges posed by the new Covid-19 variants, it is important to optimize efficiency wherever possible. Whether you are running a care home, nursing home, clinic or hospital, the biggest challenge would be to maximise efficiency and cope with the accelerating demands of the pandemic.

Implementing a strategic approach to empower your workforce by creating contingency staffing models and reducing the burden of manual administrative tasks would maximize efficiency to a greater extent.

Let’s discuss a few tips to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your care home in 2022.

1. Automate the manual processes

How much time are you wasting on your care home’s administrative tasks every day? From recruitment and on-boarding to staff scheduling and training, the administrative tasks associated with a care home workforce is labour-intensive and time-consuming. Moreover, these manual procedures can even induce the chances of error or mistakes, leading to penalties or monetary damages. This can be a bigger issue in larger social care organisations, with hundreds or thousands of employees.

So, what would be the best solution? Automating these processes. Implementing a technology platform or workforce management software would help in improving the accuracy and efficiency of your organisation. Not only does it save your time and money but also eliminates the possibilities of human errors or mistakes.

Having an automated system in place would provide the following benefits:

• Reduced errors and redundancies that result in far more efficient work
• Improves compliance with CQC regulations so that your care home doesn't run afoul of rules and face hefty fines
• Care homes may boost productivity without growing their personnel by making better use of their time, or they can lower payroll expenditures while maintaining the same level of output
• Improved insights make it simpler to fine-tune procedures for greater business results
• Increases your ability to scale in response to the changing demands

2. Establish a transparent communication strategy

An effective and open communication strategy is essential for streamlining processes and procedures in any healthcare or social care organisation. The success of any technology implementation relies heavily on the collaboration and cooperation of your existing workforce. That is why it is important to involve your employees in every process, respect and listen to their opinions and ensure that they feel empowered and valued.

How to implement a transparent communication strategy in your care home? Here are a few pointers.

• Communicate openly with employees and let them know about planned reforms before they go into effect
• Solicit and respond to employee suggestions and concerns in an open and honest manner
• Maintain open lines of communication so that employees may express their ideas. Employees who are engaged are more likely to contribute to the success of new initiatives
• To ease existing staff's anxieties about embracing new processes/technology, provide enough training in an inclusive, sympathetic setting
• Allow enough time for employees to adjust to new practices, and ensure that a robust HR infrastructure is in place to assist them if necessary
• Make employee well-being, work-life balance, and professional boundaries a priority. A healthy, happy staff will be more effective, more inclined to embrace procedural improvements

3. Be open to change

Of course, it's not always feasible to see exactly how we might improve procedures, which is why keeping an open mind when it comes to innovation is critical. Don't limit your problem-solving to tried-and-true techniques. The world is fast evolving, with a slew of new solutions arriving on the market practically every day. Now is the moment to embrace some of those changes and figure out which solutions could work well for your company.

Operational efficiency and employee productivity are the major issues in the care home industry, just like any other organisation. With the increasing pressure on the workforce, it is essential to introduce innovative solutions that open doors to a more efficient, productive and flexible work model.

If you too are looking for modern workforce management solutions for your care homes or healthcare organisation, let us help you out. Reach out to us for expert assistance.