Based in the Surrey, Britannia Homecare supports 250-280 individuals in their own homes with a team of around 100 care staff. They provide care for adults with a wide range of needs, including dementia, mental health conditions, and learning disabilities. As past winners of the ‘Provider of the Year’ award, they pride themselves on a person-first approach.

For Britannia Homecare, delivering on a "person-first" promise meant that every new assessment was a deep-dive into an individual's needs and preferences. While essential for quality, this process – from the initial meeting to the write-up back at the office – took a full day of uninterrupted work for a single care plan.

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This crucial but time-consuming process was a significant administrative burden. It limited the team's capacity to onboard new care recipients quickly and meant less time for other important work like in-person reviews and service improvements.

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As an agency that loves to innovate, Britannia Homecare joined Birdie’s co-development programme to help shape SmartPlans – an AI-powered care assessment tool built directly into the Birdie platform.

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During a visit, SmartPlans records the conversation with a care recipient. It then transcribes the conversation and pre-populates the assessment in Birdie with suggested answers based on the transcript. The care manager simply needs to review, edit if needed, and confirm each answer.

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Lauren Stockwell, Registered Manager at Britannia Homecare, said, “We love moving with the times. If we can speed up processes, the more value we can provide to people – and that's where SmartPlans comes into the equation.”

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Saving two-thirds of assessment time

‍What used to take a full day now takes just a third of a day. “By the time you get back to the office, it's there ready to go,” says Lauren. This 66% time saving has been a huge boost, freeing up the team to focus on what matters most without compromising on quality.

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Increased capacity for care

‍With the time saved, Britannia Care can assess more people and get their care started sooner. “We wouldn't be able to be as responsive as we are with taking on packages,” Lauren explains. “We support with discharges – it could be the same day for a new package of care. And we're able to do that because we can work so effectively, so fast.”

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Richer, more person-centred care plans

‍SmartPlans captures the small details and direct quotes that bring a person’s story to life. In one instance, the AI perfectly transcribed the words of a client with a learning disability, ensuring his specific wishes about his care were captured exactly as he expressed them. In another, it flawlessly understood a client's strong regional accent, recording the exact name of the place they grew up – a detail that might have been missed with manual note-taking.

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“It's really personalised – in so much more detail than if you're working from memory and jotting down notes,” says Lauren. “This is allowing every answer to be unique and specific to the individual.”

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A clear business case

‍When asked about the value for money she gets from SmartPlans, Lauren’s answer was simple. “For people that are newly starting out in this market, it's a no-brainer. You are just saving yourself from having to recruit another person – that's literally the bottom line of it.”

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For Britannia Homecare, there’s no going back. By embracing AI that keeps them in control, they’ve not only made their assessment process faster and more efficient – they’ve made it more human.

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