DESCRIPTION
This blog explores how the UK Government's push to digitise social care services—highlighted by NHS App updates—is reshaping expectations for children’s homes and supported accommodation. Learn how OVcare helps providers stay ahead.
When
June 2025
Who
Paula Martinez
When the government talks about “digitising social care,” most people think it only applies to the NHS — hospitals, GPs, patient records. But let’s be honest: social care is being pulled into the same direction, and it’s starting to show.
On 6 June 2025, the government announced that appointment reminders are now being sent out through the NHS App to over 10 million people. Seems small, but it says a lot. They’re expecting everyone in care — not just health — to start using digital systems to manage, communicate, and prove what they’re doing.
That includes us — the people running or working in children’s homes and supported accommodation.
And the reality is, we’re behind. While other sectors are logging everything on connected systems, we’ve still got services relying on handwritten logs, Word documents, and paper MAR sheets. That might have been fine ten years ago, but it’s not enough anymore — not when inspectors, commissioners, and safeguarding teams expect quick answers and clear records.
Digital isn’t just a nice extra. It’s becoming a basic requirement. If you’re not using proper systems to track incidents, log meds, plan shifts, and record handovers, then sooner or later it’s going to cause problems — whether that’s in an inspection, a complaint, or something more serious.
We built OVcare because we’ve seen these problems first-hand. We saw staff wasting time repeating paperwork, incidents being missed, meds being logged late, and homes struggling to keep up with what’s expected. That’s why we’ve built a system that works the way care actually runs — shift to shift, person to person, not 9 to 5 office hours.
With OVcare, everything’s in one place — care plans, incident reports, risk assessments, medication records, staff files, audits. No more chasing folders or relying on memory. If someone’s off sick or there’s an unannounced inspection, everything’s ready to go. The AI tool, OVinsights, even gives on-the-spot advice that follows your own policies — not some generic manual that doesn’t apply to your setting.
It’s not about ticking boxes. It’s about making life easier for staff and safer for young people. Less guesswork. Fewer mistakes. More time to focus on the actual job — supporting children and young people who need consistency and care.
And as the government continues to push digital systems in health and care, the homes that already have proper tools in place will be the ones that stand out. The ones that are inspection-ready, accountable, and trusted.
We know change isn’t easy, especially in this sector. Budgets are tight. Staff are stretched. But doing nothing is no longer the safer option. Whether it’s medication errors, missing incident logs, or gaps in safeguarding, the risks of not going digital are real.
We built OVcare to remove those risks — and to give homes a system that works with them, not against them.
On 6 June 2025, the government announced that appointment reminders are now being sent out through the NHS App to over 10 million people. Seems small, but it says a lot. They’re expecting everyone in care — not just health — to start using digital systems to manage, communicate, and prove what they’re doing.
That includes us — the people running or working in children’s homes and supported accommodation.
And the reality is, we’re behind. While other sectors are logging everything on connected systems, we’ve still got services relying on handwritten logs, Word documents, and paper MAR sheets. That might have been fine ten years ago, but it’s not enough anymore — not when inspectors, commissioners, and safeguarding teams expect quick answers and clear records.
Digital isn’t just a nice extra. It’s becoming a basic requirement. If you’re not using proper systems to track incidents, log meds, plan shifts, and record handovers, then sooner or later it’s going to cause problems — whether that’s in an inspection, a complaint, or something more serious.
We built OVcare because we’ve seen these problems first-hand. We saw staff wasting time repeating paperwork, incidents being missed, meds being logged late, and homes struggling to keep up with what’s expected. That’s why we’ve built a system that works the way care actually runs — shift to shift, person to person, not 9 to 5 office hours.
With OVcare, everything’s in one place — care plans, incident reports, risk assessments, medication records, staff files, audits. No more chasing folders or relying on memory. If someone’s off sick or there’s an unannounced inspection, everything’s ready to go. The AI tool, OVinsights, even gives on-the-spot advice that follows your own policies — not some generic manual that doesn’t apply to your setting.
It’s not about ticking boxes. It’s about making life easier for staff and safer for young people. Less guesswork. Fewer mistakes. More time to focus on the actual job — supporting children and young people who need consistency and care.
And as the government continues to push digital systems in health and care, the homes that already have proper tools in place will be the ones that stand out. The ones that are inspection-ready, accountable, and trusted.
We know change isn’t easy, especially in this sector. Budgets are tight. Staff are stretched. But doing nothing is no longer the safer option. Whether it’s medication errors, missing incident logs, or gaps in safeguarding, the risks of not going digital are real.
We built OVcare to remove those risks — and to give homes a system that works with them, not against them.
