Operations: Unlocking Better Outcomes with Better Tools
March 31, 2025
This article is part of our Digital Blueprint for Adult Social Care, a series exploring how technology and cultural change can come together to transform services. In this piece, we focus on operations—how better tools for social workers are reshaping practice, unlocking time, and driving better outcomes for the people they support.
The Challenge
Every day, frontline practitioners balance their desire to deliver meaningful, person-centred support with the reality of time-consuming paperwork and administrative demands. In our work with clients, we’ve found that social workers can spend up to half of their time on admin – a long-standing source of frustration for staff. This leaves little room for creative problem-solving, collaborative planning, and building trust with those they support.
The knock-on effect is significant. Delayed assessments slow access to vital support, while the time spent away from people reinforces a transactional rather than relational approach to care. Over time, this erodes not only the quality of care but also the long-term outcomes for those relying on these services.
We know that inefficient case management systems are also impacting on practitioner time, with 1 in 10 social workers reporting issues completing their day-to-day work as a result. For decades, these systems have been clunky, unintuitive, and process-driven, often reinforcing a transactional approach to care that lacks the flexibility needed for effective cross-service collaboration. For managers, anywhere from 20-40% of their time is taken up interpreting, organising and managing caseload data – time that could be better spent supporting staff or focusing on strategic planning to drive meaningful change.
Better Tools, Better Practice
Digital innovation is changing this landscape. From speech conversion software augmented by intelligent language frameworks (AI scribes powered by ambient AI) to optimised case management systems, better tools are enabling front line teams to work smarter, not harder. These technologies don’t just save time; they enable practitioners to refocus on person-centred, creative, and collaborative support that improves long-term outcomes.
By way of an example: speech conversion software now being widely adopted across the sector can draft care assessments in real-time, and has been found to reduce documentation time by up to 58% by one leading provider, Magic Notes. This means faster support for individuals and more opportunities to have meaningful conversations rather than getting lost in forms, and freeing practitioners to focus on what matters most—building relationships and co-producing care plans that help people achieve their goals.
Optimising case management systems may also prove critical. By focusing on usability and flexibility, improved case management software will further reduce the administrative load and make it easier for practitioners to maintain a person-centred focus, guiding them through essential steps without unnecessary complexity. We’ve also seen teams benefit from new capabilities, such as the ability to conduct virtual Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) meetings and share case documentation digitally across services. This has streamlined communication, significantly reducing the time spent on email exchanges and following up on responses. For managers, clear visibility of caseload data is empowering them to make timely, well-informed decisions about resource allocation and case prioritisation, while also allowing them to proactively address any delays or issues.
Digital innovation in care is at a pivotal point – and designed and implemented well, the ambition should mean less practitioner time spent in front of a screen – and more time with the people they work with and support.
The Impact
We’re seeing first-hand how these tools, combined with a cultural reset, are transforming social work practice. The benefits include:
Timely Support: Faster assessments and streamlined processes mean people receive the help they need sooner.
Higher-Quality Interactions: With less time spent on admin, practitioners can focus on listening, collaborating, and building trust.
Better Long-Term Outcomes: Creative, person-centred approaches empower people and families, helping to achieve goals like greater independence and reduced reliance on care.
Continuous Improvement: Visibility of caseload data helps managers more easily monitor the effectiveness of care plans and interventions, enabling them to track outcomes and measure team performance.
Making It Work
For these tools to succeed, they must be part of a broader cultural and practice-based reset. It’s not just about saving time—it’s about ensuring that the time saved is reinvested into person-centred support that improve outcomes for individuals and communities.
To unlock the full potential of better tools, organisations need to:
Invest in training: Equip social workers with the confidence and skills to use new tools effectively.
Reset priorities: Reinforce the importance of spending time on creative and collaborative support rather than routine admin.
Build feedback loops: Gather ongoing input from practitioners to refine tools and processes based on real-world experience.
Track the impact: Use data to measure the effect of reduced admin on workforce capacity and outcomes for people.
The Opportunity Ahead
Perhaps counterintuitively, digital innovation in this space isn’t really about the technology itself. It’s about giving staff the tools they need to step away from screens and back to what matters most: spending more time with the people they support and work with.
The impact is already emerging. Pioneers across the sector are showing us what’s possible—unlocking time, restoring focus, and delivering better outcomes for individuals and families. This isn’t just progress; it’s a quiet revolution in the way care is delivered.