How New Care achieved whole-home improvements by integrating digital care records and wellness solutions

Evidencing for success

Cath was also complimentary of the reporting functions of the digital care planning system, which she found had helped New Care to resolve any potential reporting issues quicker, saying: “If we have any queries, concerns or complaints, that audit function and the reporting function gives you fantastic evidence very quickly, so it saves an awful lot of time. And the quality of the evidence is very high because you’re not trying to read somebody’s signature or work out what their handwriting or trying to find bits of paper than have gone missing. 

“So, you’ve got all your evidence in one place – it's accessible, you can quickly resolve queries, concerns, complaints, anything of that nature, which makes it one of the best functions in my opinion. 

“Another thing I love about PCS's digital care planning system is the comprehensiveness of it. It means that we are able to make sure that we complete all the documentation for an individual in so far as we have a standard suite of documents, but then we have additional documentation which would be bespoke, like, for example, additional care plans and risk assessments, that we can provide for a person based on their assessed needs. So, it really informs the discussions we have with residents and relatives.” 

“If we have any queries, concerns or complaints, that audit function and the reporting function gives you fantastic evidence very quickly, so it saves an awful lot of time” - Cath Fairhurst 

Using the digital care planning system gives us instant access and the ability to provide accurate and holistic responses

Speaking on the impact for everyone involved, Cath continued: “We’ve also found that it’s really helped to encourage staff to understand the value of what they do and the importance of adding that little bit extra narrative into care notes, which goes a long way. This is crucial because like many care homes, we have residents who might have relatives that live far away, or even in other countries, who don’t get to see them very often. And sometimes they’ll speak to us or do a video call with us and ask how their loved one is getting on.  

“Having the digital care planning system means that when this happens, we can get into someone’s records and give a really accurate, holistic response as to how that person’s care is going. We can also give insights into what the current care plans are, and maybe how they’re developing, as well as the person’s condition and how it's going, because the intelligence being gathered is significant. So really, there is no comparison to where we were on paper.” 

Using the digital care planning system is like having an extra member of staff

“But one of the most meaningful ways it has helped us has been the amount of time it’s given back to care staff who don’t have to all sit around a room for an hour at the end of their shift writing up their care notes. Now, because they can evidence and record care in real-time, it’s giving them crucial time back to spend with the people they care for. 

“In fact, we’ve found that using the digital care planning system has given us about an hour back every day, for every carer, and every shift.” 

These are the types of savings for New Care that have been invaluable for staff wellbeing. The amount of time they have been able to save using the digital care planning system has meant that they effectively are getting the workload equivalent of having an extra member of staff on their rota, such is the ability of the system to streamline tasks. 

This time saving for New Care has also meant that they have been able to reinvest that time in incredibly meaningful ways; namely, through the use of the Wellness and Activities Platform, of which they have been avid users for the last seven years.  

Long-term investment in wellness and activities

“The wellbeing of both the staff and the residents have really improved since we started using the Wellness and Activities Platform,” Cath said. “Because we’ve had all this extra time, it means that the staff and the residents have had the opportunity to do things together that really improve wellbeing – activities that make everyone feel good. 

“We’ve been using the Wellness and Activities Platform for a long time,” Cath explained. “Beforehand we were using a paper-based system for the wellbeing support of residents and so consequently that was time consuming and variable in terms of what we were able to generate. Also, how well it was recorded varied from person to person, even from shift to shift, and we were definitely missing significant elements of the wellbeing programmes that we now are able to offer and I think we’re not only able to offer a lot more, but we’re able to record an awful lot more than we’ve ever done before.” 

Commissioning Director Dawn Colette agreed, adding: “Prior to using the Wellness and Activities Platform, there was a lot more time that the wellbeing team had to spend searching for ideas of what to do and what to put on the programme. Now, however, it’s all just there and done for them, and they have the chance now to think more creatively about what activities to select based on specific resident interests because the work of gathering a large pool of ideas has already been done. 

“We’ve had the benefit of the Wellness and Activities Platform for a long time, but now we have the even greater benefit of having the two systems, that and the digital care planning system. That is where I think now, we’re seeing the biggest differences and benefits. 

“That means providing residents with an environment that really feels like a home. Now, when we go into care homes in the morning, rather than seeing people sat around in the longue not really doing a lot, we’ll go in and see them taking part in an exercise class or something like that – something fun and engaging. It’s a great feeling when we see it, but also if a family member comes in and sees their mum or dad participating in something they would never have imagined, I think that speaks volumes.  

Wellness for everyone

“The Wellness and Activities platform really aligns well with our own visions and values: we always aim to prioritise holistic wellbeing, and the platform allows us to do that because we can provide wellbeing for our residents but also our staff and the families too. And it’s not just the wellbeing team, it’s helped all of the staff get involved which has been really important because I think historically, carers felt like they were only in care homes to deliver the more clinical or fundamental aspects of care, like more personal care as well as the more mundane tasks that can sometimes be involved on a day to day basis.  

“Now, however, all care staff can be involved in the wellbeing programme; they can join in on the exercise classes or the quizzes or anything else, they can feel good about coming into work and they have the chance to actually have fun, and that I think is one of the biggest differences we see now.” 

Tailor-made activities

Cath agreed and added: “Just knowing that all of the activities on the platform are evidence and research based is really reassuring for us as well. Knowing that every activity has been designed by experts means that we know that no matter who you are, if you’re participating, you’re going to feel good about it.” 

Both Cath and Dawn were full of praise for the Wellness and Activities Platform, concluding that for New Care, there have been huge benefits for everyone involved, as well as significant regulatory compliance benefits too.  

Improved care outcomes mean improved business outcomes

The impact that the Wellness and Activities Platform has had for everyone involved at New Care has also had a positive effect on the performance of the organisation, as Cath explained: “From a business point of view, our occupancy figures are incredibly good; our new homes fill up much more quickly than the other care homes that are newly built, and I think a big part of that is because of how we do what we do – how we create an atmosphere in our homes using the Wellness and Activities Platform. 

“You come into one of our homes, and it’s not what historically people often associate with care homes in terms of the atmosphere. Instead, people who come to live in our homes do just that – they come to us to live a full life, a life still well lived.” 

Real-time feedback with Digital Reception

“When we first implemented Digital Reception, it was mostly as a means of complying with GDPR – that was the rationale in the outset anyway, but since then we’ve found that there is so much more to be gotten out of it,” said Dawn, who could not speak highly enough of the impact Digital Reception has had. “I speak about this all the time because you can deal with situations in real-time. 

“It’s lovely when somebody visits and gives us five stars and they write us a really positive review, and for home managers this is really useful because they can respond to it and keep it in the compliments file and it goes a long way not just for us to understand what we’re doing well, but also its invaluable information when it comes to evidencing for regulatory bodies. 

“But it’s also just as useful – more so even – for the other side of things. When you get somebody come in that gives a one- or two-star review and writes something negative about their experience, that goes directly to the manager who can act on it immediately to rectify the situation. If somebody has an issue, we can deal with it there and then, rather than letting them go home and fester about it and then letting it become an even bigger issue.  

“So that’s the biggest benefit that I see from Digital Reception, and it means that we can be proactive when dealing with a potential issue. It gives us the chance to close the gap on the unknown issues that we might have, because it presents an opportunity to identify problems that we might not have known about otherwise, meaning that we are in a constant state of improvement and growth because we have this constant feedback loop.” 

Cath agreed, adding: “Ultimately it brings us closer to the families of the people we care for and it really works to strengthen that relationship because we are showing them that we are listening to what they have to say and that we are always open and responsive to their thoughts, whether it’s positive or negative.” 

Concluding our chat, Cath was very enthusiastic in her recommendation for the products offered by Person Centred Software, commenting that the ease of access and the ease of implementation were some of the biggest factors on top of everything else discussed.