How can AI be used in care homes?

There are more than 16,500 care homes across the UK, housing nearly 442,000 residents. Yet demand is set to increase, with predictions estimating that we’ll need an extra 144,000 care home beds over the next 10 years to keep up with our growing population. So, with our ageing population and increasingly complex resident needs, coupled with some significant financial and operational pressures, many in the sector are looking at new solutions to help manage these challenges.

This is where artificial intelligence (AI) can step in. From supporting your employees through efficiency boosts or communication support, to predicting patterns or behaviours to enhance the quality of your residents’ care, AI can bring a host of benefits to care home providers.

In this blog, we’re exploring the challenges care home providers face and how technologies like AI for care homes can help address these, providing actionable insights to enhance operational efficiency, staff support, and resident care.

Challenges facing care home providers

1. Operational and care coordination complexity

Running a care home is no small feat, and in 2024, residential care accounts for approximately 70% of care homes, while nursing homes make up around 30% of the total number of care homes. Whichever type of care your service provides, your teams will be delivering personalised support to your residents, often with a broad range of needs, spanning medical care, mobility assistance, and cognitive aid. Combine this with an ageing population requiring more complex care interventions, and it’s easy to see why managing care coordination is such a challenge. And outdated systems can make things harder, as they often contribute to inefficiencies, human errors, and miscommunication between teams, which can put residents at risk.

Risks related to falls, health issues, and unmet needs particularly for residents with dementia or communication difficulties, can add to the operational and care coordination complexities that are inherent to managing a care home.

2. Strained resources and capacity challenges

While vacancy rates in the sector are reducing, care home providers are still navigating a delicate balancing act as they continue to face resource constraints and growing expectations. Of course, residents and their families increasingly expect personalised, high-quality care, but as care costs rise, it tests providers’ abilities to deliver while operating within limited budgets.

Our recent Care Trends Report 2025 found that 40% of care home providers struggle to get residents client moved in / set up quickly enough, which impacts both those you support (because they aren’t getting the care they need) and the financial stability of your service (because they may go somewhere else for their care). Plus, in February 2025, 85.7% of beds in care homes were occupied with 11.1% vacant but admittable.

3. Administrative burdens

Your teams often spend hours completing paperwork, reporting for compliance, and manually updating resident records. While these tasks are absolutely necessary, they come at a cost. Because these time-consuming tasks often reduce the time caregivers have for direct interaction with residents.

And for many, these repetitive duties can lead to feelings of frustration and burnout as they don’t want to spend countless hours filling out documentation, they want to do what they do best—care. Almost a third (27%) of care home providers said that their staff being unhappy, because they want to spend more time delivering care rather than manual admin, is their biggest challenge around retention.

How AI can support care home providers

The care sector is changing rapidly, and with good reason. Challenges like growing demand, limited resources, and the need for high-quality care may well be pushing care providers to rethink their strategies. So, here’s how AI use in care homes can support you, your teams, and your residents.

• Enhancing care coordination

Running a care home can often feel like arranging a constantly moving puzzle. From keeping up with residents’ health updates to managing fluctuating demand, effective coordination is often the glue that helps hold it all together day-to-day. This is where AI in care homes can help to simplify how operations are managed, turning overwhelming processes into smoother decision making.

AI has the ability to rapidly process vast amounts of data. It can be used to help detect emerging health concerns, predict risks, and offer actionable insights that support your care workers to make informed decisions at the point of care. Or it could be used to help spot trends in agency spend, so you can proactively manage capacity and resource planning.

Beyond decision-making, AI for care homes automates repetitive administrative tasks. Things like responding to tenders form local authorities, or collating reports take up countless hours each week. AI can speed up these vital processes and provide real-time information that keeps the focus where it belongs—in delivering compassionate and hands-on care.

• Proactive and personalised resident care

Delivering person-centred care in care homes isn’t just about meeting physical needs; it’s about truly understanding each resident and placing them at the core of every decision. With the help of AI in care homes, providers can empower their teams to deliver tailored and compassionate support while minimising distractions. AI lightens the load by automating time-consuming tasks like summarising health plans or recognising data trends, allowing your care teams to spend more time on what truly matters.

Every resident is unique, and their care should reflect that individuality. Care home AI tools excel at analysing a wide range of data, which can then be used to craft highly personalised care plans. Such plans could include tailored schedules, activity suggestions based on personal interests, or even subtle adjustments to communication styles that make interactions feel more natural and engaging.

As we’ve already touched upon, one of the standout features of AI use in care homes is its ability to detect subtle patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed. By closely monitoring residents’ data, from vital signs to daily movement, AI could be used to help identify early warning signs such as a decline in mobility or changes that suggest potential health risks. This could then be flagged for immediate review by your team, preventing more severe health complications.

• Supporting your teams

The well-being of your employees plays an essential role in the success of any care home. However, stress and burnout, and heavy administrative loads are common challenges in care. But this is where AI in care homes can be an invaluable ally, not only alleviating the strain on your employees but also empowering them to focus on what they do best—delivering exceptional care.

One of the most significant ways AI for care homes supports teams is by streamlining repetitive tasks. Daily responsibilities such as updating care plans, managing data analytics, or summarising reports can easily drain hours. By automating these processes, AI allows your back office and care facing team members to devote more attention to meaningful, hands-on care, rather than being bogged down by paperwork and administrative tasks.

An example of AI use in care homes comes from a pilot programme in South West London care homes, where AI monitoring devices reduced unnecessary night-time physical checks by 75%. This shift freed up valuable time, leading to savings of up to £13,000 per staff member each year.

Plus, your employees can even use AI to self-serve with questions they may have or support they may need. For instance, employees can use AI tools to ask for clarity or query HR about annual leave entitlements, giving them more control and autonomy day-to-day.

Addressing concerns about AI in care homes

The integration of AI in care homes presents undeniable benefits, but it’s essential to recognise that no technology can truly replicate the compassion, empathy, and intuition that your care teams bring to their roles. The key to successful implementation lies in finding the right balance between using care home AI for efficiency and maintaining the personal touch that defines quality care.

Take a look at our blog ‘Balancing AI and human connection in social care’ for more information.

Another significant challenge is data privacy. Residential care AI relies on extensive data collection, including sensitive health information, to operate effectively. This raises questions about how securely this data is stored, who has access to it, and how it is used. OneAdvanced AI, for example, is the first UK hosted private LLM (Large Language Model) for businesses, ensuring data sovereignty so you can be assured your private data remains safe and secure.

Equally important is ensuring that the adoption of AI in residential care does not overwhelm or alienate your employees. User-friendly, intuitive tools reduce the learning curve and ensure that your care facing, and back office teams can embrace the tool and focus on what they do best.

AI for care homes

Care home AI represents an extraordinary opportunity to transform care delivery, reduce operational strain, and support your hardworking teams.

OneAdvanced AI is the first UK hosted private LLM (Large Language Model) for businesses and can give your care teams the ability to upload and analyse vital care data, with the confidence that private data never leaves your organisation.

Are you ready to explore how to use AI in care homes? Watch our recent webinar ‘A complete guide to AI in social care’ for all the details you need.