How Rosemary Lodge saved time and improved care standards with mCare

Finding the right solution 

In terms of the search for a digital solution itself, while we weren’t sure yet which digital care planning system we would go with as we started our search, we knew one thing for definite: we needed to move away from paper care plans! Before implementing mCare, we were using paper care plans which, as anyone reading this will probably understand, was an enormous amount of unnecessary work.  

Using the paper system, when we wanted to enter care notes for residents, we would have to get all the care plan folders out and then we’d have to go through them all one by one and writing our notes in each one. Now, using mCare, this process has been sped up so much because now all we need to do is use the handheld device to input a care note at the point of care which only takes a few seconds thanks to the icon-driven interface, and if another resident has done the same thing then you can just repeat it.  

This frees up time to actually think about how we can personalise the care notes and of course it gives us more time back to spend with the residents, rather than having to just write down the same sentence over and over again. It really makes life so easy! 

Why we chose mCare 

The decision to go with mCare over any other digital care planning system really boiled down to two main reasons. Firstly, we started exploring digital care plans because of the funding that Staffordshire County Council were providing for care homes to invest in digital care planning systems. I was going through the resources provided by the digital care team as part of the decision-making process, trying to decide based on all the feedback and advice I could get what would be the best system for us. The resources I looked at mainly explained the different features those different systems provided. At the time, there was a list of about ten on a spreadsheet that had been put together by the government department responsible for digitising social care and this sheet basically broke down all of the features available on each system. 

In looking at that sheet, where it had all the systems along the top and what they did down the side, Person Centred Software’s mCare stood out to me because it had the most boxes ticked; of all the options available, we knew it would offer the most features for us, it would cover as many bases as possible and give us the most complete experience when it came to digitising our care planning.   

Secondly, in terms of reasons for opting for mCare over any other provider, the integration that was offered by Person Centred Software was a really attractive prospect for us. Along with mCare, we also use the Nursecall Messaging System which has been enormously useful as well. We did have a very old nursecall system before but over time it fell into obsolescence and there wasn’t really a way of modernising it unless we got a completely new system in. But given the fact that the Nursecall Messaging Service is integrated with other PCS products, it was so easy for us in terms of the installation, and it fitted into how we work seamlessly. It gives us that a comprehensive dashboard with call logs for all of our rooms allowing us to look at all the data and keep an eye on response times and which residents tend to need more car

We also have moved to PCS’s Digital Reception, another part of the Connected Care Platform. This has helped us greatly as it also integrates into the care plans to let us know which residents have has visitors which is valuable information for their emotional wellbeing. This also saves our carers time as they do not have to document visitors. It also helps us with tracking staff shifts for payroll and provides us with an evacuation list for our fire drills. 

How mCare has transformed our care management and operations 

We’re coming up to our first year using mCare, having implemented it back in September 2023, and now the system is second nature for everyone who uses it. We found that even once you’ve used it just a couple of times, it’s very easy to get the hang of because the user interface is really intuitive, and it makes sense. Everything is where you want it to be for easy and efficient use. For staff that have joined since we implemented, it’s been an even easier transition because many of them have already used mCare in other places.  

In terms of how it’s changed the way we operate, probably one of the biggest differences is just the sheer number of care notes we are able to log now. The system is perfect in that it allows you to log more care notes to a higher standard in less time. There is a much more detailed view of what is happening with each resident now with mCare. For example, we can track observations a lot better now than we could before because it just brings it up on the dashboard within a matter of seconds, rather than us having to sift through old paperwork. It really is an amazing time-saver. 

One of my favourite features of the system has to be the handover notes on the handset. Before we had mCare, we had a handover folder in which the senior carer would have to write down all the things that needed to be handed over to the next shift. But even with the best paper system, it’s inevitable that things are going to get missed off. The carers have to do so much in their shifts, so it’s understandable that they might have done something that needed to go into the handover notes but forgot to put it in because they’ve done so many other things since.  

But with mCare, any care notes that are being entered can be added to the handover instantly just by checking a box before pressing submit, meaning that nothing will get missed. The handover notes on the handheld device are great because now the carers can come in, grab a handset, swipe over to the resident in question and have instant access to the handover notes, meaning they have everything they need and we know they’ve read it because they can confirm by pressing the ‘read all’ button at the bottom. Again, it’s the perfect balance – it's a much better handover but takes much less time, so staff don’t have to spend the first part of their shift going through the written handover notes – they can just have a quick read, get all the same information, and get right into their shift.  

Overall, it’s been an amazing experience working with Person Centred Software. Their digital care planning system provides everything our old system provided but so much more on top. It’s such a great addition to our care setting. The depth of care that we can provide now is unrivalled; it covers every base you could think of.