Spring has come and with it the new blossoms of ideas and opportunities. UK Care Week sits at the start of the social care events calendar, putting winter to bed behind us. We headed to the NEC in Birmingham excited to connect with so many people from across social care. Throughout the two days we enjoyed a wealth of examples about the potential and power in the future of care.
On the Stand
Our team immediately felt the energy of the event when we arrived on Wednesday morning. Our stand was a hive of activity as we welcomed old friends and new prospects. Many attendees were curious to learn about the specifics of our system, showing just how experienced with technology social care providers have become.
It also presented us with the wonderful opportunity to catch up with existing Nourish users and share our experiences first hand. Communication is the cornerstone of care for us at Nourish, and one of our favourite reasons to attend trade shows.
Our Partnership Programme Neighbours
Care is a community. Through our partnership programme we continue to develop integrations with many quality software suppliers in social care. Several of whom were also attending UK Care Week.
Within close proximity were Camascope, Sona, Workforce.com and Blaucomm, turning our section of the show floor into a fun Nourish Partnership Neighbourhood! While only around the corner you could find our friends PainChek, Homecare Association, and the Care Workers’ Charity. Plus Ally came by to say hi while they were visiting the show!
You can find out more about our partnership programme here.
On Stage
UK Care Week has a reputation for big name guest speakers and insight full industry experts and this year was the best yet.
There were a number of talks on the development of digital in social care. Digitising Adult Social Care (DiSC) provided an update on their programme, and the success so many providers have experienced since moving from digital to paper. Digital Care Hub shared their expertise, helping to illustrate the importance of safeguarding data and making sure we are able to use technology to innovate in a secure way. In keeping with this theme, they also led a discussion on generative AI and its potential impact on social care. Sharing insights from their ongoing ‘AI in Social Care’ roundtable events, which we are taking part in.
Our friend James Tugendhat, CEO of HC-One, shared his experience covering a range of topics in his conversation with Sam Lewis, editor of Care Home Professional. James highlighted the importance of having great managers, and how many of the Managing Directors of their homes started as carers, reflecting the understanding and ‘kindness is key’ ethos of HC-One throughout their organisation.
The CQC was, of course, a common source of discussion. While the new system is still in its teething process it is reassuring to be able to share experiences openly with so many different providers as well as the regulator themselves.
Yes, Minister
The headline act of the event was saved for Thursday afternoon. The Minister of State for Social Care Helen Whately. Care Minister Whately opened her seminar with a reflection on the commitment her government has made to social care, the funds they have made available and the reasoning behind them. She shared her vision for social care, a system with many a range of shapes and sizes, joined but different from the NHS, allowing it to respond to the unique and varying needs of communities across the UK. She also spoke about the success of the digitising social care programme and her continued desire for the adoption of digital social care records. Her session concluded with an open call for questions from the crowd, and a round of one-to-one conversations and selfies with attendees.
In Bloom
With UK Care Week behind us we are inspired by what we’ve seen and energised for an exciting show season ahead of us. We have Care Show London in April, as well as a number of smaller shows on the horizon. There is nothing quite like meeting people in person and immersing yourself in the wonderful wider community of social care.
If you’d like to get a more direct idea of what people were saying at UK Care Week you can check out our Vox Pop blog from the event here.
