Care Home Occupancy

Care Home Occupancy – Why is it Important?

Care home occupancy rates are the ratio of used space compared to the total amount of available space. This key performance indicator directly impacts the financial health of your care service and its ability to provide high-quality care.

The pandemic saw a dramatic decline in occupancy rates and while it has taken some time, occupancy rates are steadily increasing. According to the Office for National Statistics, compared to last year, there was a 3.1% increase in care home residents between March 1^st 2022 to February 28^th 2023, which is great news for care services across the country.

Maintaining optimal occupancy levels ensures that resources are being utilised efficiently while keeping revenue streams steady. On top of this, a well-occupied care home creates a sense of community and vibrancy among residents, improving their overall well-being as a result. It also improves the appearance, reputability and trustworthiness of your service.

Factors that Affect Care Home Occupancy

Several factors influence care home occupancy rates, we will be taking a closer look at the top 5. Understanding these factors is vital when you are trying to successfully optimise occupancy rates in your care home.

1.      Location

The geographical location of your care home will play a significant role in occupancy rates. While this sounds obvious, care homes situated in areas with a high demand for elderly care services often have better occupancy rates. If your care business is already up and running, then using effective care home marketing techniques to reach your target audience and attract people from afar is advised.

2.      Marketing and outreach

Talking about marketing, both traditional and digital care home marketing methods are key for reaching new service users and loved ones looking for a care provider. Use keywords (search terms) to optimise your website to target people searching for care services locally, rather than just broad terms like ‘care homes’. You can also aim digital advertisements at specific localities. Visibility in the local community, a strong social media presence and consistent use of online platforms will drive inquiries and applications.

3.      Quality of care

The reputation of your care home will be closely tied to the quality of care your service provides. Things like positive word-of-mouth referrals from residents and their loved ones, a good online presence and showcasing your rating from your care regulator (assuming it is on the good end of the spectrum), happy feedback and positive reviews you receive on your social media and/or website can significantly improve occupancy rates.

4.      Pricing and affordability

The cost of your care service can be a deciding factor for potential service users and their families. When working out pricing, you must make sure you strike a balance between offering competitive pricing and maintaining a steady income. You can work out the best price for your service by comparing what you have to offer and what you charge against your competitors.

5.      Care home condition

The physical condition of your care home and the amenities you have to offer will have an impact on its appeal to potential residents. A well-maintained and modern-looking service is more likely to attract new service users and catch the eye of families looking for care for a loved one. Simple things like a layer of paint, clean floors and well-decorated communal areas can go a long way.

6.      Ensure Adequate Staffing Levels

You must ensure that you have adequate levels of care staff to cope with the tasks and pressures associated with increased occupancy. To tackle this, your care service must have a strong recruitment process in place. Your process should include thorough screening, interviews and reference checks. This will highlight the most qualified and compassionate individuals, so they can be selected to maintain safe staffing levels. Remember that striking a balance between experienced caregivers and fresh talent is key to conserving the quality of care along with the rising occupancy levels in care homes.

How to Increase Occupancy in Care Homes

Increasing care home occupancy can feel like an overwhelming task when you don’t know where to start. Combined with some of the advice offered above, here are some strategies you should consider when trying to increase your care home occupancy rates.

• Enhance your marketing efforts – As mentioned above, developing a strong online presence through an informative, user-friendly website and active social media profiles will highlight the unique aspects of your care home. These may include amenities, activities and quality of care.
• Build strong relationships – Collaborating with local healthcare providers, local authorities, hospitals and community organisations will establish referral networks while creating a positive reputation for your care business. A steady stream of referrals can be a great way to maintain healthy occupancy rates.
• Tailor your services – Offering specialised care services that cater to specific needs, such as memory care or rehabilitation, will address niche requirements and may attract a diverse resident base. You should also consider implementing and then publicising tailored care plans that promote independence, dignity and respect.
• Be flexible with your pricing – You should consider offering various pricing plans that have been created to cater to different budget ranges. Providing options like this to potential service users and their families will allow them to choose something that suits their financial situation, rather than deterring them with something unaffordable.
• Engage with the community – This is similar to building strong relationships, but engaging with locals through open houses, workshops and community events gives you a chance to engage with potential residents and their loved ones. Building trust and relationships early on may encourage them to choose your care service.

Keeping Track of Care Home Occupancy

The management of care home occupancy involves the detailed process of record-keeping and collaboration with local authorities. Care homes across the UK typically maintain thorough occupancy records, which contain details such as the number of residents they currently have in their care, the rooms they have available and specific care services they offer.

Care homes will make local authorities aware of available spaces and facilitate placements by regularly communicating with their respective local council or health and social care departments. They provide vital information surrounding the type of care they can offer, staffing levels, safety standards and areas of care they specialise in, such as dementia care or rehabilitation.

Being transparent when exchanging information enables local authorities to assess whether a care home is suitable and can meet the needs of a potential service user. This helps to ensure that placements are made with the utmost consideration for the individual's well-being and care requirements.

Private Enquiries

It's very easy in the busy nature of running a care home and taking care of residents for new enquiries to be followed up slowly or inconsistently. Having proper processes in place ensures that these don't end up at the bottom of a to-do list. Proper tracking also means you can do more to understand why some enquiries result in someone choosing your care home and why others don’t.

Potential residents or their loved ones can make enquiries to a care home through various channels, including over the phone, email or in-person visits. These are typically received by the care home’s administrative team. To ensure prompt follow-up, many care homes have implemented specialised software systems that have been designed to track and manage enquiries efficiently. These digital solutions help staff record vital information, and the needs and preferences of the potential resident. They can also be used to:

• Enable the scheduling of tours
• Carry out mandatory assessments
• Arrange virtual meetings

A timely follow-up should be prioritised when dealing with private enquiries. This allows care homes to answer important questions, clarify doubts and guide potential service users or their loved ones through the admission process, ensuring that any decisions they make surrounding care are well-informed. Implementing the right software helps to streamline this process while managing enquiries with care and precision. If an application is unsuccessful or withdrawn, you could look into creating automatic feedback surveys to find out what convinced or didn't convince people to choose you.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

There are common mistakes care providers make that end up decreasing occupancy throughout their service. When trying to increase occupancy in a care home, you should avoid:

• Neglecting quality – Prioritising quantity over quality may work in the short term, but it can lead to negative reviews and a tarnished reputation which can be hard to get back from. Obviously, this will have a negative impact on your occupancy rates.
• Inadequate staffing – Insufficient staffing levels can lead to decreased quality of care and dissatisfied residents, which can make it challenging to maintain occupancy rates and attract new service users in the future.
• Expensive rates – Setting your care fees too high, especially if your service is new, lacks feedback or doesn’t have anything special to offer, will deter potential residents and their families, which will lead to empty beds.
• Lack of engagement – Whether this is in person or digitally, having poor engagement with the local community or on online platforms will limit the visibility of your care home which will hinder your efforts to attract new service users.
• Ignoring feedback – It can be hard to listen to criticism, but it should never be ignored. Neglected feedback from residents and their loved ones can lead to dissatisfaction and high turnover rates, which will harm occupancy rates in the long run.

How Software Can Improve Your Care Home Occupancy Rates

Care home occupancy is a critical metric that has an impact on the financial viability and overall success of a care service. Providers need to prioritise strategies that enhance the quality of care, increase the visibility of their service and improve engagement amongst potential service users and their families. Understanding the factors that influence occupancy and avoiding common mistakes will help care homes maintain healthy occupancy rates while providing the best possible care to their residents.

To help you start improving your care home occupancy rates, we at The Access Group recommend implementing care management software and using it to refine processes throughout your care home.

Our management platform is the only system you need to improve standards, automate processes and increase the well-being of residents. It’s used by residential care providers of all types and sizes across the world and can be utilised for anything from medication management to electronic care planning. You can also manage enquiries from new potential residents through Access Residential Policies and Procedures. Combined with integrated solutions that provide you with all the tools you need in one system, you can make a real difference in people’s lives while running a successful care service.

Contact us today to find out how we can support you to increase your occupancy, care quality, and more, or to get yourself a demo booked.