It doesn’t matter what type of care you provide, how many staff you employ or how large or small your business is, you and your team will need to get used to writing a lot of reports. While digital care planning software such as Care Vision has taken a lot of the manual headaches away from the task, the actual writing must still be done – and done well enough to satisfy a number of key criteria from information sharing to auditing compliance.

Whatever thew subject of the report, there are a number of top tips that can be applied to help ease the process and improve the presentation of the report’s contents. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Planning makes perfect

As with most, if not all things, taking time out to plan in advance will be worth its weight in gold when you come to begin writing your report. Planning can take many different forms. You could get together with colleagues to pull your ideas together on a sheet of paper about what you want to include in the report. Or make a list on your own if you prefer and work your way down it to make sure nothing is missed. Another method is to decide on the subheadings you want to include and then fill each one in when you start the writing stage.

Wait, then draft

If you have time, leave the plan alone for at least a few hours before doing anything else on the report. If possible, leave it overnight so you can sleep on it. Often, a new days brings fresh perspective and you might remember or think of things you want to add to the plan. When you are ready, write out a first draft, not worrying too much about finer details at this stage, or getting the spelling and grammar 100 percent correct. Just make sure you have covered all the main points as laid out in your plan.

TL;DR

TL;DR stands for ‘too long, didn’t read’ in social media parlance. While you obviously want people to read your report in its entirety, it is key to recognise that many care sector workers are time-poor and may not feel able to read through a lengthy report in one sitting. Once you are happy with your draft of the main report, consider adding a summary at the very top. This should outline the main points for people who are not able to consume the whole thing at once. A summery offers readers a helpful way of taking in the main information from the report across in an easily consumable way.

Editing excellence

After you have written the drafty and summary, go back and edit what you have written. This is when you must check for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors etc. Watch out for overuse of jargon, specialist, care-sector specific acronyms etc that could make the report difficult for people to understand. The editing stage is where digital tools are hugely advantageous over manual methods, such as handwriting or using a typewriter and sheet of paper. Often., IT software has built in spellchecking functionality. Plus, you can make changes very easily via a screen without having to reprint or rewrite a paper-based report. It is a good idea to ask someone else to check your work too, as a second pair of eyes can often spot mistakes that the author of the report did not see at first glance.

Final checks

Think about who is going to read your report. Is the information sufficient for their needs –or have you included too much? Can they understand the context of your report, and do they know what you are expecting them to do with the information once they have read it? Make sure you have not added anything irrelevant that will waste people’s time if they have to read it. Keep the language respectful, professional and appropriate for your audience. Avoid adding anything that could offend someone if they read it – intentionally or inadvertently. Keep any conclusions you draw logical, unemotional and evidence-based. This will help give credence to thew report and help readers trust in your authority as its author.

Finally, using digital care planning software to plan, draft and edit your report will save time and help you make sure that all of these points are fully covered. It also ensures that reports can be saved, shared and updated quickly, easily and in full confidence.