How Red Hill Care is harnessing data and transforming the way they provide care and record care for residents

A multitude of advantages 

As a manager, the features of the digital care planning system offer a diverse array of advantages over paper systems or even any other care management system. My favourite capabilities would be the checks it can perform – fluid checks, bowel checks, food checks, the alerts which we use a lot and have been really valuable. These checks and alerts have really helped us to maintain much better oversight on the health of our residents, which we can monitor almost in real-time. 

Another great strength of the PCS’s care planning system is the way it helps us with handovers between staff shifts. Before adopting it, handovers could sometimes present issues because of the time it would take to transfer the relevant information between shifts, not to mention the fact that the information would sometimes be limited, which is understandable with a paper system – there is only so much information you have time to take down. But now the handovers much easier because all the information is right there, which has made the world of difference and really helps us maintain greater communication. That has been a real game changer for us. 

That data is also invaluable to us to analyse trends and issues that might arise in the care home. For example, it helps us analyse falls within the resident community and gives us insights into how we can prevent them. This as well informs the incidents and accidents reports and how we can use greater depth of data to help ensure resident safety.  

“Overall, the level of information is probably my favourite feature, especially as a manager, because all the data I need is at my fingertips.”  

Saving hours every day 

Probably the biggest overall benefit to us, though there are many, has been the amount of time we’ve been able to save by going digital and choosing PCS’s system. Utilising it has meant that we have been able to save at least two or three hours every day, which makes a huge difference to the level of care that our staff have been able to provide – freeing them up to spend meaningful time with residents where before that time would have been spent dealing with administrative tasks. But for their sake too; now they don’t have to wonder how they’re going to fit an afternoon of sifting through paperwork into their shift. 

Also to be able to oversee the amount of care plans that I do now, with the old paper system, would have been impossible.  

I now have much more of a handle on everything. I know where things are, I know where to find them, and I know that if I can’t find them, I know exactly who to ask and they can help me.  

We’re still in a process of learning, and though we have already seen a huge transformation in our ability to provide and document care, we can see that there is still so much more to learn and make use of. Every day, we open the digital care planning system and discover new capabilities that we can utilise to make our care provision even better.  

Making the difference where it matters most 

Partnering with PCS has helped us make huge differences to the lives of the residents and the staff. The basic physical care of residents has improved because with the digital care planning system, it is much easier for us to identify with greater accuracy when things aren’t being done, or in terms of the residents’ health, which we can track with the data available.  

For example, we can identify if a resident is losing weight too dramatically and we can put measures in place to rectify the issue causing it. We can also track and similarly manage a resident’s fluid intake, or the regularity with which they might visit the bathroom – we can spot potential issues in the data trends and put things in place instantly.  

These improvements come as the result of a clear pattern that is available at our fingertips and which we can access very easily, and that enables us to look after our resident’s basic care needs so much better. 

A growing movement to embrace digital transformation

As a manager, I regularly assess other residents in other homes and (because I'm very nosy!) I tend to ask them what system they are using for their care planning and management. Almost everywhere I go, the answer they give to this question is Person Centred Software’s digital care planning system.  

From my perspective, it’s easy to see why: the system is intuitive, streamlined and efficient; everything is truly at your fingertips and crucially it gives myself and my staff more confidence. 

On top of that, if you do have any concerns or questions, the support team at Person Centred Software are always available to offer support and guidance – they are always there for you. And it’s not long before any issue is solved.