UK Care Homes Will Face Soaring Insurance Premiums, a Leading Charity has Warned

By Mark Fewster, Chief Product Officer of Radar Healthcare (https://radarhealthcare.com/radar-healthcares-quality-and-compliance-software/)

Care home providers across the UK are facing bills up to four times higher than pre-pandemic levels for their insurance coverage.

High premiums come on prime of pressures brought on by decreased occupancy charges, employee shortages, and a shortfall in funding- which could leave many homes vulnerable to closure.

Mark Fewster discusses how streamlining administrative tasks and implementing time-saving software can reduce outgoings in other areas to help with the soaring premium costs:

“Administration is one of the key tasks of a healthcare worker and keeping on top of this can not only be extremely stressful and time-consuming but also costly.

“OECD data estimates that the UK spends 1.2% of its current health expenditure on NHS administration versus an OECD average of 3%. However, there is always the question as to whether this money is being invested in the right areas.

“In May 2020, Four Seasons Health Care Group, one of the largest care home (nursing home) operators in the UK, implemented healthcare tech software that saved them 65% in system license fees.

“After implementing Radar Healthcare’s software in 9 care homes for ICF, they rolled it out to all 172 locations. By using the software, they were able to replace three systems with just one- saving both valuable time and much needed financial resources.

“Four Seasons Health Care Group holds contracts with the NHS where a number of beds in specific services are reserved for patients requiring Intermediate Care.

“They needed a solution that created cost savings and allowed them to evidence meeting the requirements of those NHS contracts whilst aligning with their current processes.

“With the huge chunk of savings made from implementing a tech software, the company have become extremely focused and confident on exactly what information they need, and have set up specific dashboards relating to this which has streamlined their reporting.

“Sanctuary Care Homes are another company who have implemented software to make their operations more efficient.

“Prior to Radar Healthcare, they were operating eight systems with lots of information that were not really talking to one another, which took up valuable time in keeping up-to-date and finding the information needed.

“However with the new software, it has connected the dots for them internally and has made operations more efficient, and in turn improved their ability to evidence compliance with external regulators.”