AI in Social Care

80% of Care Providers Are Small – Here's How They Can Make AI Work For Them | EP. 14 w/ Samir Patel

Small providers make up 80% of the care home market, yet when it comes to technology and AI, they're often the last to get support. In this episode, I sit down with Samir Patel – care home owner, operator, and founder of the Care Home Digi Hive community – to talk about his 20-year journey from paper chaos to practical AI implementation. Samir shares the lightbulb moments that pushed him toward tech, the £25,000 mistake that taught him everything about change management, and why he believes care homes should start with "back office" AI before touching resident data. Whether you're a startup or a large provider, this conversation is packed with hard-won lessons on making technology work without overwhelming your team. Find out more about the Digihive community: https://www.carehomedigihive.com/ [https://www.carehomedigihive.com/] Samir's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samir-patel-07684912/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/samir-patel-07684912/] Samir's podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@iCareServicesUK/featured [https://www.youtube.com/@iCareServicesUK/featured] And on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKDdIwu5H9ke3dYOPdfu4?si=34c25c9a3559497a&nd=1&dlsi=c30ae3c960dc4482 [https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKDdIwu5H9ke3dYOPdfu4?si=34c25c9a3559497a&nd=1&dlsi=c30ae3c960dc4482] David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mance/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mance/] AIinSocial Care tutorials, podcast and more: https://aiinsocialcare.com/ [https://aiinsocialcare.com/]

Are We Choosing Care Tech All Wrong? | EP. 13 w/ Paul Shanahan

Most care technology does what it says on the tin. It functions, ticks boxes, completes tasks. But somewhere in the process of evaluating, procuring and implementing tech, something often gets lost – the relationships that make care actually work. In this episode, I speak with Paul Shanahan, a clinical lead and behaviour analyst turned part-time coder, who's been wrestling with this challenge. Paul shares the thinking behind his Relational Care Tool, which is built on real research with service users, carers and care organisations. It helps teams evaluate technology not just on functionality, but on whether it enriches the human experience of care. We also talk about his digital health passport project, which is tackling one of the most frustrating and overlooked problems in care transitions: the outdated, easily lost, 12-page paper document that's supposed to tell a busy A&E team everything they need to know about a person with complex needs. If you've ever sat in a procurement meeting and thought "There must be a better way" then this episode is for you. Connect with Paul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pjshanahan/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pjshanahan/] Relational Care custom GPT: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-6984b31aadb08191a86b25d8a40c1afd-tech-for-relational-care [https://chatgpt.com/g/g-6984b31aadb08191a86b25d8a40c1afd-tech-for-relational-care] Listen to more interviews and watch free AI in care tutorials: https://aiinsocialcare.com/ [https://aiinsocialcare.com/]

How One Small Care Group Got AI Right (Without a Tech Team) | EP. 12 w/ Kevin Humphrys

What does it actually take to make AI work in a care setting?   In this episode of AI in Social Care, I sit down with Kevin Humphrys, CEO of Oakland Care Group – a two-home provider that’s quietly doing some of the most thoughtful, practical AI implementation I’ve seen.   No outsourced transformation project. No shiny tools for the sake of it. Just a leadership team willing to start with principles, and adjust the plan as they go.   Here’s what stood out: – They didn’t wait to have it all figured out. They started with 5 rules. – Staff now build their own AI agents – including senior care staff. Not because they were “techy”, but because they saw the value. – Care planning went from 4 hours to 20 minutes – with better oversight, not less. – They spotted bias the hard way – and built systems to catch it next time. – Most importantly: they’re not using AI to cut corners. They’re using it to give staff time back.   If you're in a care leadership role and feel like you're already behind on AI, you're not. But the gap will grow quickly in 2026 – and this episode shows what it looks like to start where you are, with what you’ve got. Resources Kevin's Gen AI Governance template: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yx6CSQe5y0bAuNWx9Ong7mOxdeZXm_U6/view?usp=drive_link [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yx6CSQe5y0bAuNWx9Ong7mOxdeZXm_U6/view?usp=drive_link] 📄 Free starter resources at frankcaremarketing.com   #AIinCare #CareSector #SocialCareLeadership #CarePlanning #SocialCareTech

How AI is optimising home care routes : A Care Provider’s Story | EP. 11 w/ Jonathan McFarlane

What happens when a care provider builds their own AI – not in a lab, but in the real world of rotas, staff sickness, and visit chaos? In this episode of AI in Social Care, I speak with Jonathan McFarlane, founder of Oran Care and now the creator of carevisits.AI – a new solution designed to help home care services tackle one of their biggest operational headaches: coordination. Jonathan shares his journey from music therapy and dementia care to building tech tools. Now, with a sharp focus on visit planning and routing, his team is developing AI to solve the kind of problems that only someone who’s been in the trenches would recognise. – Why care coordination is more complex than people think – Why the user decides how to measure success – How to approach optimising systems (way before getting AI involved) – Why experience in care matters more than clever code If you’ve ever felt the pain of last-minute rota changes, weekend on-call stress, or trying to make sense of three systems that don’t talk to each other, this one’s for you. Check out carevisits.ai 🔗 Find free resources on getting started with AI in care at frankcaremarketing.com David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mance/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mance/] Jonathan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-mcfarlane-a9b0325a/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-mcfarlane-a9b0325a/] #SocialCare #AIinCare #HomeCare #CareTech #DigitalCare #CareCoordination #AI #FrankCareMarketing #CareVisitsAI #HealthTech #CareSector

Why One Social Worker Changed Her Mind About the Job | EP. 10 w/ Rachel Astall

Everyone’s excited about AI, but few are actually getting it adopted by frontline workers.   In this episode, I’m joined by Rachel Astall, Chief Customer Officer at Beam, creators of Magic Notes — an AI tool now used by half of all social care teams in UK local authorities.   We talk about why social workers are often drowning in admin, how Magic Notes is helping to change that, and what it takes to make a tech rollout actually stick.   We cover: 🔸 How tools like Magic Notes are helping some workers stay in jobs they were about to leave 🔸 What it takes to build trust and tech habits in care teams 🔸 The role of training, templates, and culture in successful adoption 🔸 Why AI in social care is about more than just efficiency – it’s about connection, consent, and quality of care   If you're in adult social care, commissioning, or working with digital adoption in frontline services, this is an episode worth your time.