Frequently asked questions
Getting started
How do I get started?
Pick the plan that fits your care business and start right away. Prefer to see it first? Book a demo and we'll walk you through ELSA live.
What is ELSA and how can it help my care business?
ELSA is an AI care business partner built for care providers, not adapted from generic office software. It works on the three jobs that take a registered manager's week: keeping policies and records inspection-ready, running care plans and daily records, and winning new work. It drafts, analyses and acts in one conversation, using your own records rather than generic templates.
Is there a free trial?
Yes, and self-serve trials need no card. You get full access for the length of the offer, and if you do nothing at the end you simply lose the paid features rather than being charged. If you start a trial through the billing page instead, that route holds your card and converts to paid unless you cancel, and it says so before you confirm.
Do I have to move all my records into ELSA before it is useful?
No. Upload the policies, care plans and evidence you already hold and ELSA reads them as they are. Most providers start with their policy library because that is the fastest thing to see a result on, then add care records as they go.
Plans and billing
Can I switch plans later?
Absolutely. You can upgrade or downgrade at any time from your account settings.
How many staff accounts do I get?
Unlimited, on every plan. We do not charge per login, because a rota is not a licence model and charging per carer just means fewer carers get access to the policies they are held to. What each plan sizes is the number of people you support.
What does "fair use" mean?
Policy generation is unlimited on every paid plan. Fair use applies to AI chat messages and document processing. We don't publish hard numbers because we'd rather move them up over time than make you do math. Typical care-business usage sits well inside what each tier allows. If your usage looks unusual we'll reach out, usually that's a sign you'd benefit from a higher tier.
Are the founding rates really locked?
Yes, for as long as you stay on the plan. If you join on a founding rate you keep that rate, and it does not step up after a promotional period.
Which plans include tenders and social value?
ELSA Pro and above. Live Tenders, the Bid Writer and Social Value tracking start at Pro, along with the ability to give each bid question an owner, a due date and a reviewer. ELSA Core covers policies, care records and staff compliance.
Compliance, policies and CQC
Can ELSA help me prepare for a CQC inspection?
Yes. ELSA audits what you hold against the quality statements, names the gaps rather than only scoring you, and turns them into an action plan. It also keeps policy reviews on a schedule so the library is current when somebody asks for it.
Does ELSA write my policies for me?
It writes a full draft, structured the way UK providers already expect to read one, with the legislation and CQC quality statements rendered from a checked list rather than written by the model. You then review and approve it. That review is not a formality: a policy is your document and your responsibility, and ELSA's job is to remove the blank page rather than the judgement.
Who is accountable for what ELSA produces?
You are, and the product is built to assume that. Anything ELSA drafts is reviewed by a person before it reaches a care record, a safeguarding decision, a regulator or a tender, which is also what our Terms of Service require. ELSA is never the sole basis for an urgent clinical decision, and we do not promise a CQC rating or a tender win.
Can I get staff to confirm they have read a policy?
Yes. You can share a policy as a link rather than an attachment, which means it can be expired and revoked and you can see who opened it. Asking named staff to sign a specific version, with the evidence held against that version, is currently in preview with selected providers.
Your data and security
Is my data secure?
Your data is hosted in UK and EU regions, is not shared with third parties for their own purposes, and is processed under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. We are registered with the ICO and publish a Data Processing Agreement you can read before you buy.
Who is the controller and who is the processor?
For the records you put into ELSA about the people you support and your staff, you are the controller and we are your processor, acting on your instructions. For our own website, sales, billing and support we are the controller. That split is set out in full in the Data Processing Agreement, which prevails over our general terms on anything about personal data.
Can I see who you use to run ELSA?
Yes. Ask us at [email protected] and we will send the current list of subprocessors, what each one does and where it processes data. If you are completing an information governance review and need it in a particular format, tell us which and we will fill it in.
What happens to our data if we leave?
It remains yours. You can export it, and we delete or return it on the terms in the Data Processing Agreement rather than at our discretion.
Documents, tenders and integrations
Does ELSA work with my existing documents?
Yes. Upload your existing policies, care plans and evidence packs, and ELSA reads them, tells you which ones it can actually read, and uses them when it writes. A scanned document with no readable text is flagged rather than silently ignored.
What integrations does ELSA support?
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, so ELSA can send email, manage your calendar and export documents into the tools your team already has open. Teams meetings can be imported with their own transcript to update a care plan.
How can ELSA help with social value?
Record what you deliver as you deliver it, with dates and evidence, and it is ready when a tender asks. ELSA keeps what you have delivered separate from what you have committed to, because a bid promise is something a commissioner will hold you to and the two should never be added together.
Does ELSA find tenders for us, or just help write them?
Both. ELSA tracks care contracts published across the UK, scores each one against the services you actually deliver and the areas you cover, and tells you why. When you decide to bid, the Bid Writer drafts answers from your own policies and records, and names the evidence it could not find instead of inventing it.