Managing Demand: The impact of BetterCare Support self-assessments on Kent Council’s Adult Front Door
Read the full Kent Case Study
BetterCare Support
Since Kent County Council adopted BetterCare Support countywide in October 2023, it has become the first point of contact for service users to start their own care-needs eligibility assessment process. Queries and assessment requests are now routed to BetterCare Support for self-service online, significantly reducing staff time spent on initial interactions.
In the 9 month period between October 2023 and July 2024, Kent saw 2522 self-assessments undertaken via BetterCare Support with 1250 being submitted for review – of those only 191 presented eligible needs and were issued a full Care Act assessment. The rest were triaged through BetterCare Support onto other avenues of support such as appropriate information, advice and guidance (IAG).
The cost of undertaking those 2522 initial assessments following a social worker-led M.O would be over £1.5 million (average of £620 per assessment), so the financial savings in providing an assessment alone have been substantial.
Only a fraction of those who contact the local authority will have eligible care needs. BetterCare Support identifies them and helps the rest by providing a personalised list of local and national information, advice, and guidance to assist them in their care journey. Service users are also able to self help with relevant IAG via Kents Connect to Support webpage. This all in turn reduces the demand for needs assessments led by social workers, who can focus on providing invaluable personal assistance where it matters most.
Kent County Council oversaw the turnaround of the 1250 self-led assessments as the locality submission feature ensured each team received the appropriate caseload for their predesignated postcodes. The range of IAG provided to users was bespoke on a case-by-case basis, so Kent staff supplemented additional information ensuring no one was provided repeat information.
In less than a year with BetterCare Support, Kent has successfully introduced and maintained a self-service way of engagement with Adult Social Care service users at the front door. They achieved this through an array of training/awareness initiatives for the benefit of service users, council staff as well as 3rd party partners (in particular Health).
Training day webinars, e-learning courses, regular news in internal communications, the development of a communication and engagement plan, digital roadshows and workshops are among the initiatives Kent County Council has rolled out.
Across every one of its localities, Kent plans to invite citizens on waiting lists to begin their care journey via BetterCare Support – decreasing waiting times for the citizen as well as routing them through to the council in a packaged digital identity (increasing their visibility and reachability for Kent’s care workers).
Read the full Kent Case Study here
BetterCare Support is a digital-led care & support assessment platform. The animation-led, self-serve platform is used to assess multi-tiered care and support eligibility, across the 10 areas of the Care Act. BetterCare Support uses 40+ relatable animations to coax best answers, reducing the reliance on home visits and unnecessary contact from those who do not meet the eligible criteria.
