Adelfi Care Services - What Good Looks Like

Adelfi Care deliver home care and support services across Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham, and nearby towns and villages in Gloucestershire. 

Wayne Didcote, Director for Adelfi Care Services, completed the digital What good looks like’ self-assessment as part of a review of best practice in their use of technology.

Pushing me to stay ahead of the curve

Overall, Wayne found that the self-assessment tool was useful for getting an understanding of the steps a provider might need to take to “get ahead of the curve” when it comes to digital good practice. He outlined that the tool was comprehensive and in-depth and felt that the tool required an investment of time and effort from a provider but once completed was largely useful for indicating areas for digital innovation and best practice. 

Wayne felt the scale that the tool uses (“not started” through to “advanced”) was appropriate and clear, and the self-assessment tool did a good job of outlining the criteria and identifying how to meet each success measure. Wayne also reflected that overall, the tool was simple to use and that information was clear. He did also reflect that answering the tool requires a provider to stop, take their time, and think as it is an in-depth and comprehensive tool. Adelfi Care were advanced or well established in many of the measures and after using the tool felt that the scale accurately captured where the provider was on their digital journey. 

Wayne reflected that their advanced score on the “well-led” measure was most important to Adelfi Care as a provider. As an organisation it is their goal to excel in leadership, and as a young provider championing adopting digital systems, they felt the ‘advanced’ response statements in the self-assessment gave an accurate benchmark of their progress being digital leaders.

One of the key reflections was that the self-assessment tool and its report could help them structure a digital strategy. Wayne reflected that “advanced” was a spectrum and that Adelfi Care were always striving to get ahead of the curve, take the initiative and to push forward the digital agenda. He felt the self-assessment tool and its report could help them take next steps. For example, Wayne identified elements and areas that could be incorporated into any future Adelfi Care strategy including secure platforms for staff collaboration and communication, tech-enabled care, and even Virtual Reality. 

Ultimately Wayne reflected that the tool matched Adelfi Care services ambition as an organisation and that overall could help providers to stay up-to-date on best practice and pushes them to “stay ahead of the curve” which he felt was very useful. 

Completing the digital self-assessment was a valuable experience. It helped us benchmark where we are as a provider and pinpoint areas to build into our digital strategy. The tool was clear, thorough, and aligned with our ambition to lead from the front in adopting tech within care. It didn’t just show where we stood—it pushed us to think bigger and plan smarter.

Wayne Didcote, Director, Adelfi Care Services