A CARE work specialist has worked to devise a series of technological solutions to the impending care crisis.

Stephen Wilson, CEO and co-founder of Netli, believes that collating workforce data from care providers and making this available to local authorities like Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council in real-time could be crucial in helping them to rise to the challenge.

The data would offer detailed information to councils which could help them with current and future workforce planning, identifying risks and threats within the industry, comparing and benchmarking against regional and national data, and identifying the necessary supports for care providers.

Mr Wilson said: “Our proposal will enable local authorities like Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, and those across the country, to gather and access valuable data which will help to them understand how to better manage the planning, recruitment and retention of social care staff.

“For example if we can monitor what impact Brexit, Covid or a closure of an individual care provider will have, it means you can react and impose a solution before serious damage is done.

“Having continual access to real-time workforce data, combined with other integrated workforce tools we have devised will help to attract applicants to the care sector, improve staff retention and build upon care as a career, and mitigate the risk of provider failure, lost revenue and unmet needs.”

This comes as research by Care UK estimates over 1.4 million people currently have unmet care needs, with delayed discharges due to the lack of social care costing the NHS more than £500 every minute.

In response Mr Wilson and Netli’s proposal to Blackburn with Darwen Council, titled The Continuous Provision of Consistent and Uninterrupted Care, will consists of ideas for a job board specific to care vacancies, a recruitment an HR system built to speed up recruitment and a database of available care workers for the council to use.

Mr Wilson said: “People are already being denied vital care – but that position is only going to get worse if we don’t change the failed ways of the past and look to digital technology to sort out this workforce problem.”