Radical Technology Solution for Social Care Payments Saves Local Council £1,000's, Eradicates Paperwork & Clears Processing Backlog

Radical Technology Solution for Social Care Payments Saves Local Council £1,000's, Eradicates Paperwork & Clears Processing Backlog PR Newswire LONDON, June 11, 2012 LONDON, June 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- London's Brent Council faced issues like others across the UK under austerity initiatives. The government announced a collective savings target of £83 billion, including a plan to cut 490,000 public sector jobs. How then, to maintain and grow vital services, including benefit payments to the most vulnerable - those in need of care services. Brent's Adult Social Services distribute payments to those managing their own care benefits. Qualifying residents including those with learning disabilities, mental health issues, aged care needs and physical disabilities receive funds and pay for their approved services directly. Within their support plan, individuals decide when and how often to schedule hours of care service and manage relations with regular care staff. However, the system required detailed transaction reporting and resulted in vast mountains of paperwork and file storage. Josephine Wessels, Project Manager at Brent Council reflects, "Our system was cumbersome and required manual processing. Monthly payments by bank transfer and management of paperwork approval was a nightmare. Time and resources were spent processing, when frustratingly, could have been allocated to new individuals in need.