Can we deliver what we’re promising?

What we found in the news

Skills for Care’s July 2023 workforce release (opens in a new tab) reported that filled adult social care posts in England grew by about 1% between April 2022 and March 2023. Vacancies had fallen, but still represented 9.9% of posts, around 152,000 on a given day. The release also noted:

“Some vacant posts may be covered by agency staff.”

— Skills for Care, July 12, 2023

That qualification matters. A vacancy count is not a direct count of undelivered care. These national figures cannot tell an individual organization what it can safely offer next Tuesday. They give us a reason to examine the arrangements behind its commitments.

Why this matters to us

Consider an illustrative situation at a community day program. There is room for another participant on Wednesday. The welcoming conversation goes well, and everyone would like to agree a start date.

But the participant needs time to become familiar with the setting. A transport arrangement still needs confirming. The colleague who usually helps with first visits is taking leave.

At genus, we are interested in how an organization connects its welcome with the work needed to make that welcome real. An available chair is useful information. It leaves several important questions unanswered.

Describe the commitment before counting the places

Take one ordinary offer your service makes. What does someone reasonably expect to happen once they accept it? Work through that with the colleagues who will deliver the service.

For our illustrative program, the commitment might include an introductory conversation, a named person to welcome the participant, and an agreed way to review how the first visit went. The participant should help shape those arrangements. A long introduction may be reassuring to one person and unnecessary for another.

Ask which parts require particular experience, preparation, or access to information. Include time for the work around the visit: answering questions, making an adjustment, and passing relevant information through the approved process.

A plan that depends on a colleague routinely staying late deserves attention before it becomes another promise.

Keep uncertainty visible while there is still time to respond

Separate what is agreed from what is being checked. A provisional place, a transport request, and a confirmed start date mean different things to the person making plans around them.

Decide who can confirm the offer and what they need to know first. Give colleagues a way to raise a concern without having to solve the entire staffing problem themselves. The receptionist who notices a mismatch between the timetable and the welcome arrangements may have spotted something valuable.

When a necessary part of the service is unavailable, discuss realistic options with the person. An alternative day may help, but it may also clash with work, another appointment, or the activity they wanted to attend. Ask before assuming it is an equivalent offer.

Avoid promising a date for a decision unless someone has accepted responsibility for providing it. When there is uncertainty, a useful update can explain what remains unresolved and when the team will next check.

Review the promises that needed rescuing

Choose a recent period and look at commitments that required hurried changes. Which depended on last-minute cover? Which led to repeated calls? What did staff and participants have to rearrange?

Discuss the conditions around those events rather than ranking colleagues by how many difficulties they absorbed. Sometimes a one-off disruption needs a practical response. Sometimes repeated rescue work is showing that the usual offer needs to change.

Use the review to make a specific decision about what the organization can offer reliably, what needs investment, or what needs a clearer explanation.

What this means for the people you serve

People can make choices when they understand the actual options. Explain what has been agreed, invite questions about what matters to them, and make changes easy to clarify. A family member’s availability may be relevant; it should not replace the participant’s own preferences.

The genus connection

Today, configured genus care-team tools include day-program reservation and capacity views, with staff workflows for placing or waitlisting requests. Availability depends on the modules and configuration an organization uses.

Those views can support the conversation about an offer. They do not establish that the right staff, transport, or individual support arrangements are ready. Leaders and colleagues still need to make that judgment together.

One question for your next team meeting

Which promise do we make routinely that would benefit from one more check before we confirm it?