Care Innovation Hub's social care challenge

The upcoming Social Care Challenge is a two and a half day sprint, aimed at University students as an opportunity to consider social care as a career pathway and come up with new ideas to address some of the biggest problems in social care.  Sprint Partners and supporters include Hallmark Care Homes, Home Instead, Walden Care, Royds Withy King, Quality Compliance Systems, Person Centred Software, Hilton Nursing Partners, Apetito, Greensleeves, Borough Care, WCS Care and the Department of Health and Social Care.

Mentors are senior executives in social care who spend the weekend supporting students with their ideas and offer insights that could help create the next big idea for social care.

Hallmark Care Homes, Home Instead and Quality Compliance systems join CIH as Sprint partners for a second year.

Ram Goyal, Managing Director from Hallmark Care Homes commented: “I am incredibly excited to be supporting this event and I cannot wait to see what ideas the students come up with. The care sector is facing a lot of challenges at the moment and there is an increasing need to come up with innovative ideas and technology to support the needs of residents.”

Home Instead joins CIH for a second year as Sprint Partner. Martin Jones, CEO said: “It’s incredibly exciting to support the Care Innovation Hub and to bring people together from a variety of academic backgrounds to come up with innovations which could shape the future of social care. Not only is it fantastic to encourage new ideas into the sector but it’s also a great way of showcasing to students the rewards of working in care. If you’re a student looking to make a difference to the lives of others, I’d encourage you to take part in the challenge.” 

Mat Whittingham, CEO of QCS has renewed their partnership with Care Innovation Hub. As a judge at the Department of Health and Social Care at last year’s final, Mat said: “The innovative, but practical solutions that were demonstrated will challenge how we think care should be delivered.”

Jonathan Papworth, Founder of Person Centred Software said: “Mobile Care Monitoring was a significant innovation in how to evidence care when it was launched in 2013, and I am looking forward being part of Care Innovation Hub to help others bring to market equally valuable new solutions to the needs of the social care sector”
 
“Whilst politicians and the media can talk about the problems in health and social care, it is refreshing that the Care Innovation Hub is standing out by focusing on new ideas to help solve the problems and improve quality of care for everyone. I am delighted to have been invited to help drive innovation in the sector”

Apetito will provide participants with meals, to give them an experience of the high-quality food that is distributed throughout care homes in the UK. Neil Hargreaves, Care Home Divisional Manager said: “apetito is delighted to become a sprint partner with Care Innovation Hub. We are passionate about driving positive change in the care sector and CIH share this passion. Innovation is critically important to the future of care in the UK and supporting entrepreneurs to develop ideas is at heart of this. We are excited to attend the upcoming events in 2020 and be a part of something that is going to make a real difference to residents and carers.” 

Greensleeves join CIH as their latest Sprint Partner for 2020. Paul Newman, CEO of Greensleeves said: “A culture of innovation lies at the heart of Greensleeves Care’s success, as is nurturing new talent. We champion the pioneers across social care working incredibly hard to implement new ideas and technologies, ultimately to enhance the resident experience. We are delighted to partner with the Care Innovation Hub to advance this sector-wide agenda. We look forward to supporting the entrepreneurs at the Hub and adopting some of these innovations at our care homes across the country.”

Previous ideas include an error proof medication system, an app focussing on culturally matched care for the BAME community, sleep monitoring devices and much more. 

The Social Care Challenge will be taking place in Florence’s offices in London from Friday 28th February till Sunday 1st March. For more information about the Sprint, visit www.careinnovationhub.org/what-is-it.