Thanks to digital care plans, VISTA Care can now create over 1,000 care notes per day

About VISTA Care

Established in 2007, VISTA Care is a medium-sized care provider based in Northamptonshire for young adults with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorders, down syndrome, epilepsy, complex health conditions, emotional and behavioural difficulties and attachment disorders. Vista Care has five separate sites, all of which have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 residents. Currently, it has 25 residents over the five sites.

Emma Macavoy, registered manager at VISTA Care, explains why they decided to change from the traditional paper-based approach to Person Centred Software’s digital care planning system, mCare.

I've held various positions since joining the VISTA Care team in 2014. I have served as the registered manager for four of the five sites, and I am now the organisation's registered supported living services manager and business development manager. My role focuses on developing the organisation and making sure quality care remains a top priority.

I've been looking for a digital care planning system that would allow us to move away from paper-based care plans and enhance the quality of our services at a cost-effective price, and I've finally found one! Before implementing Person Centred Software's digital care planning system, mCare, VISTA Care was predominantly paper-based, and the care team had limited technology for day-to-day care provision. Since some staff members weren't so "au fait" with technology, I think they were initially apprehensive about implementing a digital care planning system.

Advancing with digital care plans

To improve the care for our residents, we trialled mCare in one of our care homes in May 2020. The trial went down a storm! It went so well that by October/November of that same year, we decided to continue the rollout of the system across our other services. At first, there was uncertainty among most staff about adopting the digital care planning system. However, everyone has become adept at using it with time and practice. mCare has helped us significantly improve our care plans because they are now digital and stored on a cloud-based platform that is easily accessible to those who need them whenever they need them. Furthermore, all our care interactions are in one place, making it easy for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to audit.

The feature I like the most about mCare

The team and I enjoy using the digital care planning system's easy-to-use Icon-Driven Interface and Speech to Text features. We use the icons and Speech to Text features to help us provide detailed care notes, allowing us to ensure the appropriate and right level of care has been provided. With mCare's digital care plans, creating care plans takes less time, which enables our care team to spend more time with the residents doing activities they enjoy.

We need evidence of the care we provide, so I also love that Person Centred Software's hand-held devices can take photos. During our community outings, we carry the hand-held devices to record our activities with the residents, which are uploaded to the system instantly.