How and When Are Care Seekers Getting in Touch?

We analysed 8,000 care enquiries received over the past 3 months to find out how and when care seekers are getting in touch. The How being by what method and the When by what day of the week and time of the day.

Key takeaways:

• 67% of new care enquiries are made by telephone

• 23% of telephone care enquiries are made on a Monday

• 15% of telephone care enquiries are made between 11 am-12 pm

• 10% of telephone care enquiries are made out-of-hours and over the weekend

How are care-seekers getting in touch?

The overwhelming majority of care-seekers chose to get in touch via telephone. Care is often required immediately, data we published earlier this year showed that 70% of admissions took place within 4 weeks from initial contact.

Just over a quarter of care-seekers get in touch via submitting an online enquiry form. Speed of response to these enquiries is key to ensure that the enquiry is qualified.

Only 5% of care-seekers use ‘live-chat’ as their initial contact method of choice. It is also worth noting that many people who initially contact a service via live chat, will call back at a later date with information they have obtained from the engagement.

Many social workers prefer this method of contact to quickly ascertain if a service has available beds and may be willing to accept their rates.

New care enquiries peak on a Monday, with a steady downward trend in enquiry volumes as the week goes on, excepting a slight uplift on a Friday ahead of the weekend.

10% of enquiries take place over the weekend, it is important to consider what measures you have in place to capture these enquiries correctly. Often care home Managers or Customer Relationship Advisers (CRAs) are not available at the weekend, in these instances it is important that the staff on shift have enough training and materials, such as enquiry pads, to support them in taking details from the enquirer. Asking them to call back on Monday is not a good customer service experience. Taking some details so that someone from the home can call them back sets a much better impression.

Care enquiries take place throughout the day but have a tendency to peak between 11am and 12pm Monday to Friday.

Care homes without a dedicated reception can be hard to reach at certain times during the day such as meal times and medication rounds. Once again it is to consider what measure the home has at these key times.

11% of enquiries take place over the lunch period of 1pm to 2pm and a further 10% fall outside the typical business hours of 9am to 5pm. Most services would greatly welcome a 21% uplift in enquiries, ensuring these key hours are managed will help increase overall enquiry volumes.

For further insights, or to find out more about our data and what we do, please contact hello@trustedcare.co.uk.