Writing less and listening more at Vale of Glamorgan Council

Living with a severe hearing impairment, Vale of Glamorgan Adults Services social worker Jayne Case relies on lip reading to interpret what residents say. Before Beam Notes, care assessments meant splitting her attention between her notes and the person in front of her.

"The biggest difference is that patients can look at my face, rather than the top of my head."

Jayne is one of 484 council staff across Adult Services and Children's Services who use Beam Notes. With a person's consent, they record a conversation and get a draft case note or assessment, which they check and sign off.

For Jason Bennett MBE, Head of Adult Services, the council couldn't recruit social workers fast enough to keep up with rising demand. He wanted social workers to spend more time with the people they support, and to ease the stress that came with an increasing number of assessments.

The challenge

More people to support means more cases to assess

The Vale of Glamorgan council serves around 131,900 people in South Wales, according to the 2021 Census.

Its population grew by 4.4% between the 2011 and 2021 censuses, compared with 1.4% for Wales as a whole. Jason says it's also one of the fastest-ageing populations in Wales.

The council's own reports show increased levels of resident care. It completed 7% more new adult assessments in 2022-23 than the year before, and in 2024-25 its Director of Social Services wrote that changing demographics "continue to increase demand levels in all areas".

The approach

A pilot led from within the service

Jason needed a new tech solution to help his staff, that was both safe and secure. One of the council's IT leads suggested a pilot with Beam, and upon doing his own research, Jason took his plan to cabinet. They backed the idea of a pilot, as it meant minimal risk and no obligation to use Beam Notes if it didn’t deliver results.

The pilot ran for three months from October 2025 in the Adult Services team. A group of practitioners from the hospital discharge, intake and assessment, learning disability and long-term care teams took part. They made 429 recordings between them. Jason purposely chose the most frequent users and those who were more hesitant, as he wanted to know what staff were worried about before a wider rollout.

Templates built around the council's forms

The council and Beam made two templates that follow the sections of the council's case management system, one for adult social care assessments and one for care and support plan reviews. Beam Notes produces a draft assessment and flags anything that the conversation hasn’t covered. Practitioners also used Beam Notes in supervisions, discharge planning, best interest meetings and mental capacity assessments.

Roll-out across Adults and Children's Services

After the January 2026 evaluation, the council signed a subscription in February for Adult Services and Children's Services. 484 staff now use Beam Notes in their daily work. The council gets ongoing training and support at no extra cost, for as long as it uses Beam.

The impact

2.5 hours saved a week on admin

In the pilot, practitioners saved an average of 2.5 hours a week on admin, and the top third saved 3.5. They spent 1.1 hours less on each assessment or review.

Assessments and reviews submitted 36% faster

Practitioners submitted assessments and reviews to the case management system in 2.2 days on average, down from 3.4, and eight of them halved their time. Those who recorded during meetings saw the best results. They saved 3.3 hours a week and submitted three days sooner, because they started from a draft.

Jayne says that her assessments and care plans are completed sooner, taking between two and three hours to submit. She says that before Beam Notes, it would have taken her two days. Jayne’s caseload is more manageable and she says that people get home from hospital sooner.

More time to listen, and a tool they wanted to keep

80% of surveyed practitioners spent more time with the people they support. They rated how present they felt in conversations at 6.9 out of 10 before Beam Notes, and 8.6 after. Some used the time to catch up on casework, and others to take proper breaks and finish on time. One practitioner stopped working late because deadlines worried them less. 

Sian Palmer, a social worker in Learning Disability Services, is dyslexic, and assessments and care plans have always caused her stress.

Sian uses Beam Notes to search for what a person has said, and puts their own words straight into the assessment. She writes the goals in each care plan in that person's voice, and in meetings with seven or eight people in the room, she follows the conversation without scribbling notes.

"Being able to speak my thoughts into Notes has significantly reduced my anxiety around paperwork. I can focus fully on the individual rather than trying to multitask by actively listening, writing everything down and gathering the required information all at the same time." 

Give your team more time to listen

Book a call with Beam to hear how councils like the Vale of Glamorgan use Beam Notes, or visit beam.org to find out more.