No reverse gear
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been major shifts in the way local government must work across all sectors. As we transition out of lockdown and back towards a 'new normal', it is important to consider how we can continue on this positive trend and not go in to a reverse gear.
Revolutionising public services
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and its possible applications in adult social care
RPA offers a range of potential business benefits. These include: higher quality and compliance, improve service responsiveness and customer satisfaction, and more flexibility to deal with peaks and troughs in demand, without the need to find additional temporary workers or, conversely, risk staff being under-utilised in 'slow' periods.
Technology Enabled Care
The pandemic saw a marked increase in the uptake and use of Technology Enabled Care (TEC) and Remote Monitoring. An increasing trust and acceptance of these tools, by both people and those involved i their care, presents opportunities for health and care systems, which we must now look to take advantage of.
Digital design
The pandemic has seen a widespread channel shift in service provision, with many public services moving online. Leaders within public services are keen to maximise the opportunities this brings, planning for reduced office space and for further digitalisation.
Public service leaders may not want to reverse digital services stood up in a hurry, however, for the public to fully engage digitally some of the solutions may need revisiting, using design principles often skirted over during the pandemic.
No reverse gear
"There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen," Lenin while in exile in Switzerland, November 1920.
Back then, Lenin may have been reflecting on events in Russia and Europe in the midst of revolution, but local public services have experienced their own revolution in the use of technology over the last few months, Covid-19 forced them to swiftly reshape both services and how they interact with their community, families and individuals.