How digital processes have improved the experience of people drawing on care and support

Sarah Boardman, Registered Manager at Manor Care Homes, shares some insight with us on how digital is helping them deliver a better care experience.

In early 2023, we decided it was time to make a change. Although we made the shift towards digital care records a while ago, the company we were working with was not fulfilling our needs. We were paying for a substantial system but found ourselves only using part of it while paying a considerable sum of money each month.

When we decided to review our provision, we spent a good amount of time considering different companies. We watched countless demos and met with many companies but settled on one that was owned by someone with direct care experience, as the founder had run care services. That really made them stand out for us as we felt they’d understand our needs.

This platform literally changed our working lives! With everything on one platform - rotas, care planning, audits, staff records - our management team, who manage numerous locations, were able to be far more responsive to the needs of the service. Our staff are able to easily log on to the system and read the handover notes that have been passed on from the previous shift, meaning all the information required to inform you of changes is at your fingertips. Notes from professional appointments are immediately available, meaning we’re able to highlight changes in needs much more quickly and can pick up trends and patterns using the system’s reporting function.

It took a while for staff to be fully onboard with the platform while they were learning to navigate the new system. We held regular training sessions, with the platform providers even coming down to deliver training in person. Staff were able to ask questions, practice with the system and learn from them first hand. Our team now tell me it’s one of the best things that we ever did as it has made them much more efficient and information is so easy to locate. The usability of the platform is outstanding – it even has the ability to translate records, so if English isn’t the user’s first language they can write or speak the notes and then it will translate it for them, which helps to make records detailed and accurate.

Going digital has really helped us connect more with the families of those we support. The system has a function that gives visibility of what we record about those drawing on our care, including their daily notes, care plans, activities completed and pictures. Family members can even add comments and acknowledge what has been recorded, offering their thoughts. We’ve found this to be very useful for those who can’t visit us as they’re able to see up to date photographs on a regular basis.

With a survey function on the platform, I’m able to send out digital surveys to staff, the people we support, their families and professionals. It’s great to be able to keep everything in one place, and by sending these out we have regular and easy access to feedback from everyone involved in delivering care.

If I were to offer my advice to other organisations who are looking to go digital, it would be to spend time sourcing the right platform for your company. Don’t be rushed into making a decision with a platform that doesn’t meet your needs by salespeople or a desire to get things done quickly. Watch the demos multiple times if needs be, speak to the people who are delivering the demos and ask them questions – you can typically get a sense for a company by speaking with their staff.

Make sure to visit our website to check out ‘Building digital confidence’ campaign.

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