Nick Reilly has joined Concerto to drive business development. We caught up with him to talk about his career to date, the positive impact software can have on the care home sector and his plans for 2024 and beyond…
Tell us about you background, how did you end up working with software for the care sector?
I’ve been in sales for 27 years and I’ve sold software for 17 years, with the last six working directly in the care sector.
I found myself in the care sector to begin with because my granddad, bless him, ended up spending his final years in a care home. I remember, when I used to go in to see him, I would see the carers, the nurses going round with these massive folders, stacks of paper, and there was just so much admin and busy work. As I worked for a software company at the time, I was thinking there’s got to be a better way of doing this. I mean, this job is hard enough as it is – there’s got to be a better way of working.
And then funnily enough, a few months later, I was approached about a job selling software into the care sector that took that reliance on paperwork away and just made it so much easier. The software was around the actual care itself, helping carers produce care plans for the people they were supporting. It was all about making sure you were delivering care in line with care plans and that this was documented and recorded so that you could show it to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
I really enjoyed it so following that, I moved on to work for another company that also provided software for the care sector. This time it focused on business processes, helping the homes stay compliant from a care point of view with things such as incidents and events. So, for example, if things went wrong, they were able to record the events to make sure the right process had been followed and lessons learned had been shared.
So what led you to joining Concerto?
Having provided software to care homes for many years, I was repeatedly asked by clients, particularly in my previous role, about whether we had a solution that helped manage the home itself, which we didn’t.
I thought that this side of things sounded interesting and I know it’s a problem that they face, that’s why I ended up here at Concerto.
At Concerto we help care providers manage everything relating to their estate, from acquisition through to disposal and everything in between. This typically includes planned and reactive maintenance, ensuring the services are safe and compliant, along with the ability to undertake the audits and risk assessments that they must carry out. Ultimately, we help manage risk within the organisation.
Are there any moments you are most proud of in your career?
I think the one that I’m most proud, was when I delivered a software solution to the care home group that my Granddad had spent his final days in, so it felt like I had come full circle. Seeing that project get rolled out and meeting the people that were using it, and hearing how it had made a massive difference to them, was really satisfying.
What have you enjoyed most about selling software into care homes?
It sounds a bit cliched, but every time someone signed up to have the software, I knew hand on heart, that people’s lives would be better off for it. Both the people that worked there and the people that they supported as well.
I really like dealing with the people that work in care. They’re fantastic people doing a difficult job and it’s great to be able to support them.
What’s your vision for Concerto in 2024 and beyond?
It will centre on driving home the benefits that using Concerto can deliver and showcasing how moving away from spreadsheets, shared drives and email can really help improve compliance and safety for care providers.
This approach positively impacts the individuals working at a care home, the care home itself and ultimately the residents, too. This is something I’m really passionate about. And, having been through it first-hand, I want the people that are residing in care homes to have the best life and be as safe as possible.
If you’re a care home or private healthcare provider, click here to have a chat with Nick about how CAFM/IWMS software from Concerto could help manage your facilities and estates.
