Dorset Council has highlighted the role of interactive digital maps in a successful trial of an approach to optimise home care around the county. It has used the maps in a pilot project in which it worked with the Dorset Care Association, Home Care Forum and providers to reduce the average waiting time for a care package from 28 to 4.5 days.
A council spokesperson said the pilot, which began in January, is now complete and that it is working on improving the process and zonal optimisation, aiming for it to become ‘business as usual’ early next year. The GIS mapping – which the council developed with technical partners – provides a visual representation of all existing care packages, those met by providers who do not have a contract with the council and waiting list demand. It enabled providers to see which packages they currently support that are not efficient and agree swaps with more suitable providers. Other technology elements include mapping workflow in Mosaic to reduce manual steps and reduce admin time, a new referral form to provide more consistent and complete information to care providers, and solutions for virtual care as part of hybrid packages.
