We don’t just build software at CoolCare – we build understanding. To truly support care homes, we believe it’s important to grasp the full context of the world they operate in. That’s why, every six months, the entire CoolCare team comes together at our HQ for a Domain Knowledge Debate (DKD). These sessions help us step into the shoes of care home operators, challenge our assumptions and spark ideas that genuinely respond to the pressures our clients face.
Now in the fourteenth edition, we tackled a big structural question: What is the optimal structure for governing NHS and Social Care to ensure sustainable, integrated care that works for local communities?
Far from a theoretical exercise, the discussion helped the team examine different policies, operational pressures and lived experience – so we can design better tools for the people navigating these challenges every day.
Here’s an overview of the session, including insights and key takeaways:
why national care governance matters to coolcare.
The way health and social care are structured at a national level impact everything from local authority budgets to how care home staff manage their daily workload. If we want to build tools that truly help, we need to understand that bigger picture.
Fiona Hale, Managing Director said: “It’s important that everyone at CoolCare understands not just the ‘how’ of our software, but the ‘why’ – the challenges our customers face day in, day out. DKDs help us build that insight and empathy.”
exploring different scenarios of the health and social care.
To examine the complexities of integrated care, we split our team into three groups, each tasked with exploring a different model of governance. One group looked at keeping things as they are, with both NHS and social care operating under the Department of Health and Social Care. Another investigated what full integration might look like under one independent body. The final group considered a decentralised approach, where NHS and social care would run independently but side-by-side.
Fiona said: “Each team dug into research, examining reform strategies both from the UK and abroad, studying policy documents and think tank reports and drawing valuable insights from decades of evolution within the care sector. The discussions that followed were not only insightful but also thorough and engaging.”
embedding key sector knowledge into our work.
All teams brought forward compelling arguments, referencing national and international reforms, policy think tanks, historical context and real-world implementation challenges. The discussions delved into the complexity and cost of major structural reform, highlighting the tension between central oversight and local flexibility.
The cultural and operational divide between health and social care was also a significant topic, with teams exploring how political cycles often undermine long-term planning. Additionally, governance was identified as a key factor influencing integration, accountability and outcomes within the care sector.
As Fiona summarised: “These debates aren’t about finding a single right answer. They’re about sharpening our awareness – so we can ask better questions, design more thoughtful products and be genuinely useful to our clients.”
learning that builds better products.
One team was recognised for standout domain research and excellent collaboration within the team, but what mattered most was how much we all learned – from understanding how care home budgets are structured to how long it takes to implement systemic change.
These insights shape how we build. Whether we’re designing new rostering features or refining compliance tools, we now do it with a clearer view of what care providers are up against—and how we can help.
Fiona added: “You can’t build great software for care if you don’t understand care. DKD XIV showed just how committed our team is to be doing the thinking, not just the coding.”
The value of our DKDs goes beyond a single event – they’re part of how we work. Every insight feed into the decisions we make, from our product roadmap to how we engage with care teams every day. When we understand the pressures care providers face like staff shortages, funding changes or policy reform – we can respond with tools that actually ease the load.To learn more about how CoolCare can transform your operations, speak to one of our care management experts, or visit our website for more information.
