Evaluation of the iSort: A diagnostic tool to assess organisational resilience in the UK Health and Social Care sector

Background: Organisational resilience is critical for maintaining effective services amid challenges such as workforce pressures and systemic change. The University of Bedfordshire (UoB) and Research in Practice (RiP) have developed a custom-built web application, iSort (Integrated Systemic Organisational Resilience Tool), designed to assess and strengthen organisational resilience in the UK Health and Social Care (HSC) sector. iSort identifies unique patterns of strength and areas for development to guide strategic improvement within HSC organisations.

 

Approach: Building on a tool designed to assess the wellbeing and resilience of the social care workforce, used for 4 years in local authority settings, iSort is underpinned by a validated questionnaire, co-produced with HSC stakeholders. It assesses resilience across five key foundational principles (KFPs).

 

Since July 2025, we have piloted iSort across ten UK HSC organisations and held 5 drop-in sessions with organisational leaders and iSort app developers (Studio14) to identify early implementation issues. Participating organisations have until 31 January 2026 to administer the survey, with 7 additional drop-in sessions scheduled.

We are conducting a process evaluation comprising a user evaluation survey and qualitative interviews with organisational leaders responsible for administering iSort and with the developers, exploring implementation, administration, functionality, perceived benefits, and recommendations for improvement.

 

Results: As of 16 October 2025, 190 users across the 10 organisations had completed the iSort survey, with 43 users responding to the evaluation survey. Of these, 39 would recommend the app to a colleague and found it useful for monitoring and improving workforce resilience, and 40 stated that they would use it again. Most users did not report major technical issues while using the app, although some mentioned access, performance, and display and formatting issues. Suggestions for improvement have included optimising the user interface, improving performance and speed, and clarifying content. Organisational leaders also identified challenges such as email and communication issues, data management and security concerns, permissions and role transition issues, and the need for training, awareness and guidance on the use of the app, to support uptake and completion rates.

 

Implications: Early insight into how iSort is used and perceived in HSC organisations. A key feature of iSort is to be self-serve and dynamic for organisational leaders. While some organisational leaders have shown strong engagement in administering the app, others may require more support and guidance during the implementation process.

The results will inform further development of the app to enhance its effectiveness in monitoring and enhancing organisational resilience. They will also help equip organisational leaders with the resources to address areas of concern. Lessons learned may also be relevant to international partners seeking to implement similar tools in health and social care contexts.