Operations

Why UK care companies can't afford to avoid digital any longer

Aug 2025 ⋅ 8 min read

Following the NHS’s paperless attempt in 2020 and the UK government’s plan back in 2022 for 80% of social care providers to adopt digital social care records (DSCR) by March 2025, care providers have been lagging ever so slightly behind digital expectations.

At the time, only 20% of NHS organisations were ‘digitally mature’ and only 45% of social care companies had some form of digitised records. This grew to 70% in May 2024, but was still pretty shy of the 80% needed in a year.

What was a steady climb has reached a somewhat stationary one today.

But why is there a push? You can’t fix something that isn’t broken, right? The systems, while paper, still work like they always have. Why change it?

Well, the paper process itself isn’t broken. Most of what it touches is, though – operations and, in some cases, your spirit.

The Digitising Social Care programme is more than just moving records online. It’s about laying the digital foundations that care providers need to improve efficiency, visibility, and patient care.

So, with the benefits in mind, what has delayed care’s switch to digital systems?

Why are care providers still hesitant to go digital?

Even with over £50 million already invested in the Digitising Social Care programme (and another £100 million planned), many care providers are still on the fence.

But why?

Budget uncertainty
If you’re like most care home managers (over half, in fact), you’re worried digital tools will cost more than what you can afford. Budgets in social care are tight enough, already (and even tighter following the effects of the last Budget Update in 2025).
Lacking infrastructure
If your building’s WiFi barely holds a Zoom call, videos appear a bit too ‘crunchy’ or, God forbid, you’re still experiencing the ’90s dial-up tone, the idea of going digital likely feels impossible.
According to The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI)’s 2023 ‘Nursing in the Digital Age’ report, 85% of respondents reported issues with mobile connectivity in 2018 before rising to 87% in 2022.
Skills and training gap
The quality of the tech and devices slightly contributes to the reluctance, with QNI’s report suggesting that “poor user experience appears to be around design and function, rather than a lack of computer literacy or enthusiasm.”
Resistance from staff
How often in our lives do we hear “Well, this is how it’s always been done”? But, after decades under the same processes, the reluctance makes sense. If your team’s been on paper for decades, you know how hard it can be to get them on board. There’s the natural worry about how the change could impact daily care.
Not enough time
When every shift is already bursting at the seams, finding time to find, learn, and switch over to a new system can feel like entirely adding another job on top of your already overflowing one.

Lacking infrastructure, time, skills, and certainty creates a deep reluctance to invest in digital technologies. But easing and even ridding some of the day-to-day challenges you face makes the digital transition completely worthwhile.

Day-to-day challenges for care managers

As a care manager, you're already juggling dozens of tasks a day, from dealing with poor staffing visibility and filling rota gaps to correcting pay inaccuracies and preparing for CQC inspections. But without digital systems, even simple jobs become time-consuming, error-prone and stressful.

Here's how going digital can change that.

Benefits of UK care companies going digital

Saved time means more time for care

When you have digital timesheets (which automatically feed clock-in data to attendance reports) and self-service apps for staff (to check shifts, submit availability, and request leave), you could free up to 30 hours per week with digital systems for workforce management at the helm. That’s more time to sit with residents instead of staring at spreadsheets.

“We have cut out many parts to our process and streamlined time management, allowing our staff more time to do the things they enjoy and support our service users.” - Craig Crockford, Phoenix Support

Reduced costs & agency spend

Switching from paper to digital processes is a biggie for cutting your operational costs.

With real-time insights, you’ll finally know exactly who’s where (and whether you’re on budget) without digging through piles upon piles of paper. More visibility means no more getting caught off guard by surprise agency bills.

Plus, when care staff are often incorrectly paid due to errors in manual data input (50% of cases), running different reports and comparing data (48%), and paper formats (30%), a digitised system replaces human error with automated, accurate data every time. What’s not to like there?

“We used to spend about £10K a year on agency staff. Last year, we had a £720 bill.” - Adam Hutchison, Belmont Healthcare

Compliant & audit-ready

There’s no more frantic rummaging through files before inspections when every scheduled shift and change is documented, right there and just a click away when you need it.

“We’ve got that audit history of what the shift was, who’s created it, who’s picked it up, who may have swapped it - all of those give us a good audit trail that works towards our quality assurance, knowing that we’ve got the right people in the right places at the right time.” - Nicola Johnson, Kelso Care

Complete visibility

You can feel like you’re back in control, knowing that staffing levels are safe across all sites and you’re on budget.

You’ll finally feel back in control. Staffing levels: safe. Sites: covered. Your budget: on track. Plus, with constant access to their rotas, employees, too, feel more in control and have confidence in what their wage will be.

When your team knows their schedule (and that their pay will be as expected), you’ll see how morale shoots up. That itself makes work far easier and rewarding than before.

“I can tell you exactly how many people I’ve got on each site, on any given day, and the costs associated with having those.”
Nicola Johnson, Kelso Care

Preparing for the next generation

The average care worker is aged 45, and only 11% of UK care workers are under 25. With over a quarter of those in the care industry potentially retiring within the next 10 years, too, it’s no secret that the next generation of care workers needs encouragement to join (and stay in) the field.

Bring in the tech your younger hires have grown up with and use daily. You’ll make the adjustment easier for them – and keep them around for longer. Having a good work-life balance is one thing, but giving them the autonomy to manage it themselves, you’ll drastically see (and reap) the benefits.

“We don't get queries about how much holiday they've got left — it's empowered the staff actually to do a little bit themselves. And I think actually, they appreciate it too.” - Ben Maredia, Ideal Care North

How the UK care sector can transition to workforce management software

1. Start with clear goals

What does success look like to you and your team? Do you want to…

Reduce agency spend (by 30%, for example)?
Cut back on audit time (by half, say)?
Save time in admin (like 20 hours per week)?

Maybe you don’t want to be as specific with figures and instead just want to fix repeating issues, like team communication or payroll errors.

Start with something and go from there.

2. Map your processes

Take a look at your current workflows in scheduling, attendance tracking, payroll, reports, and audits to identify what would benefit most from digital automation. Document it, too. Get your team involved. You may even find bottlenecks and inefficiencies you weren’t aware of.

3. Choose the right tools

Look for:

Rota planning and holiday management
Staff attendance tools like availability, automatic timesheets & clock-ins
Mobile access for staff to view shifts & make requests
Streamlined payroll process and/or HR integration
Budget forecasting & labour cost control
Compliant reporting tools
Visibility on staffing levels & costs across multiple sites/teams

4. Test free trials

Start with one site or team to give the new system and process a go. Resist the urge to roll it out everywhere at once, as tempting as it is, when it can improve so much. But even the most digitally-ready teams will find an overnight change too jarring. Gather their feedback, adjust your workflows, and refine your rollout plan. How will it look?

5. Invest in training and support

Whether it’s from within your teams or through the software provider itself, ensure staff receive hands-on training tailored to how familiar they are with tech. After all, digital confidence is half the battle. Not many will accept a switch if it isn’t a smooth one.

6. Upgrade infrastructure

Look at the current infrastructure you have. Can it support your digital revolution? You’ll need reliable Wi‑Fi, tablets or phones, and system-wide IT support. They’re essential. After all – no network, no system.

7. Measure success

Remember those goals at the start? Track them. The hours saved, staffing and agency spend, compliance rates, and employee feedback. Review them quarterly and keep improving where possible.

8. Plan for the future

Now, this isn’t a ‘set it and forget it’ thing – that’s how operations became so out of date in the first place, with the upgrade seeming too much of a jump or needing more work to transition. Having a digital foundation now in place means there’s space for you to add further integrations or other digital tools within or as well as your new system, like care logs, analytics-driven insights, and cross-system automation.

Wrap-up

Care managers like you are under pressure to do more with less, and manual processes only make things harder.

You may not want to admit it, but your paper and manual processes aren’t working any more. Not as much as you’d like them to, at least. It’s time for a change. For the sake of your team, your service users, and yourself.

Digital workforce management software for UK care reduces the burden of repetitive, time-consuming admin and frustrating payroll errors. You’ll stay compliant, avoid payroll mistakes, and finally get shift scheduling under control.

But it’s more than simply reducing overspending, too. Going digital puts your staff back in control of their shifts and improves their work-life balance.

After all, “Happy staff is happy service users.”

With these improvements, you can focus on what matters most: delivering great care.

More accuracy, visibility, and higher morale – all with very little time and effort? …How aren’t those paper processes already in the recycling?

Why UK care companies can't afford to avoid digital any longer

Why are care providers still hesitant to go digital?

Day-to-day challenges for care managers