Introduction
Swindon Borough Council piloted AI in Adult Social Care to improve the quality and speed of recording of assessment conversations by their frontline workers. Using a tool called Magic Notes, specifically developed for this purpose by social enterprise Beam, council staff have been able to reduce admin time by 63 percent, freeing up more time for vital conversations with the people supported by Adult Social Care.
Challenge
Increasing demand on council services means capacity of frontline staff is tighter than ever. For Swindon Borough Council, this has meant that time-consuming administrative tasks like manually recording assessment conversations and logging records takes valuable time away from social workers. For those staff with learning difficulties or protected characteristics these impacts are compounded, and ultimately this prevents social workers from better directing their expertise and efforts on person-centered conversations.
Solution
Swindon Borough Council decided to partner with Beam, a social enterprise focused on supporting disadvantaged groups and developing cutting edge technology for frontline workers. Social workers from the council trialled Magic Notes, Beam’s first custom built tool for social work, which is currently being piloted by 14 UK councils.
Magic Notes allows social workers to automatically generate high-quality, detailed assessments customised for specific teams, liberating frontline staff from admin time and allowing them to focus their efforts more on the conversation. Data is stored safely within the UK, with strict adherence to GDPR and local compliance policies.
Swindon trialled Magic Notes across 184 frontline meetings using two reporting templates specifically developed for the council. After this, they produced a thorough evaluation of the pilot, detailing baseline studies of time savings and surveys across practitioners.
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Outcomes
Practitioners trialling the software quickly noticed a dramatic improvement. Following a 63 percent reduction in admin time, social workers reported a significant change in their ability to submit and sign off on assessments earlier, allowing for better time management and productivity.
One social worker noted, “Magic Notes has been able to get the best out of me as an employee and allows me to be more productive.”
The impact of Swindon’s Magic Notes trial could also be seen in the improvement in both the quality and accuracy of documented conversations, increasing confidence in the quality of work and also allowing greater time for reflection and decision making.
Several practitioners also commented on the benefit of Magic Notes for various protected characteristics – one social worker reported, “I’m dyslexic – I’m much more productive with Magic Notes. It helps my thoughts not get stuck, takes away confusion from mind and reduces anxiety.”
With 100 percent of practitioners participating in the pilot wanting to keep Magic Notes, the success of the pilot is felt clearly. Grace Lynch, director of commissioning, improvement and assurance, said, “Magic Notes exceeded my expectations in terms of accuracy, speed and staff satisfaction. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and it has allowed our social workers to spend more time doing what they do best – supporting people.”
Next Steps
Moving forward, Swindon Borough Council plans to explore rolling out this type of tool across the Adult Social Care service and identifying potential applications in other departments such as children’s services, and leadership support.
