The care inspector also praised HCC’s willingness to innovate and improve their service:
“The provider was constantly finding ways to improve the service. At the time of inspection, the provider was introducing a new electronic system [sic. Access Mobizio] for record keeping and auditing. The provider had a strong vision to grow the service and had identified that an electronic system will provide the means to build the service and support more people, whilst maintaining accurate records.”
JRH Support, also using Access Mobizio and PeoplePlanner, made a similar impression on their CQC inspector in October 2017.
“They used software [sic. Access Mobizio] which shows staff which medication they need to administer on a particular visit. The system automatically alerts a team leader if a dose is late or missed so they can ensure the appropriate action is taken in a safe and timely manner. This demonstrated the service was committed to making sure people received their medication in a safe and effective way. A social care professional said, "I have no concerns about medication being missed." Another social care professional said, "I have no medication issues."
Tiptoeing into the 21st century
When it comes to software, the care sector on a whole has been on something of a journey, one that is still ongoing.
Some early pioneers needed to pave the way, but now providers large and small are making use of software for care scheduling, care planning and monitoring. The benefits these bits of kit deliver are being proven time and again, not just to the care providers that use them, but also to the bodies that inspect and regulate social care throughout the UK.
This is why making the right choice of care software is crucial. The investment, both financially and in terms of time, while completely affordable, cannot be wasted on software that doesn’t work, or promises what it cannot deliver.
For the same reasons, the number of systems now on the market can make a bewildering choice for care providers to make. The sad fact of the matter is that this highly competitive market will not allow all of these systems to survive. This means that the size, stability and track record of delivery of each software provider has to factor in to your decision making process.
Cohesiveness of information has also been an issue for some providers who have purchased different systems from different companies, with the hope that they would work in tandem.
The overwhelming consensus is that they don’t. The different elements of care management software, from scheduling visits, to electronic care plans and eMAR all need to be integrated and are best delivered from a single provider who can support you with all of them.
The Guide to Paperless Homecare has proved to be an enormous source of help and guidance when selecting care management software. Especially for small to medium size care providers.
Guide to Paperless Homecare – Download now
I’ll leave you with one last quote from another recent CQC inspection:
There were robust quality monitoring systems in place to help ensure continual improvements were made and the care people received was improved. The registered manager used a bespoke software package that provided an innovative monitoring and auditing system.
The system alerted and allocated tasks to staff members for completion. Therefore, there were no missed tasks or support for people.
It also allowed staff to completely personalise every document and process within the system. It enabled new ideas to be explored and developed. We saw that the system was efficiently enabling staff to spend more quality time with people rather than spending hours writing in documents.
The electronic system used allowed management to spend considerably more time with people and staff to focus on the quality of support instead of spending time completing audits and action plans. Because records were electronic, staff and people had immediate access to these and were aware of any changes occurring in a timely way.
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