Social Care involves interaction with the individuals we support – often this means visiting people in their own homes, anywhere within the county. We also have a number of offices at various locations in the county, so it makes sense to work from the nearest convenient office rather than one particular desk in a specific office.
For some time, Social Care has trialled “Wise Working” – using laptops instead of fixed PC’s, and using RAG (remote access gateway) to enable staff to work from anywhere with internet access and still connect to our networked systems. This means less travel time, being able to work from home where this makes sense, being able to get more done in between meetings.
Wise Working has now developed to be part of a wider Modernisation Programme for Conwy. With our colleagues in IT and other departments, we’re rolling out the concept to all staff.
By becoming more mobile, we’re maximising our office space and freeing up meeting rooms. Supporting flexible working for staff helps to maximise the use of our time. The rollout also includes decluttering, issuing new larger screens for all staff, replacing laptops and PC’s over 5 years old, and improving the visibility and accessibility of senior management.