Electronic Care Provider Improves Resident Safety from Nutritional Risks

Press release published in Journal of mHealth, Digital Health Age, Driven by Health, The Care Home Environment, Care Home Management, National Care Forum, Building Better Healthcare, 1 Stop Healthcare and Care Home Professional

To improve safety for residents at risk of choking or asphyxiation, Person Centred Software has incorporated the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) into its nutritional tools for care providers.

From April 2019, care homes are encouraged to move to using IDDSI, a new global framework for texture modified foods and fluids. The aim for the framework is for all healthcare professionals to use the same terminology to describe food and fluids to improve patient safety and reduce resident risks.

Person Centred Software improves patient safety and reduces nutritional risks by adding IDDSI framework to its electronic care planning, monitoring and reporting system, Mobile Care Monitoring. The addition of IDDSI category and description and allergies to the nutritional assessment enables care providers to quickly and easily evidence the texture of food. Any risks are displayed at the top of the mobile app, so every resident’s allergies and texture diet are known about at the point of care.

IDDSI is already mandatory for care providers in Bedfordshire. Debbie Field, Operations Manager at Benslow Care Homes, with one care home in Bedfordshire, says, “A soft diet could mean many different textures, whereas with IDDSI we now have a way to evidence the consistency of food and fluids and reduce the risk of choking and asphyxiation. Agency staff and hospitals are also very clear on what texture diet our residents need.”

Andrew Coles, Head of Product Management at Person Centred Software says, “We have adopted the IDDSI categorisation of food and fluid into our electronic evidence of care planning system, so that care staff can see what type of diet a resident requires, and quickly evidence the food texture along with what the resident ate. Additionally, food allergies and food textures are clearly displayed as risks for the carer at the point of care on the mobile app as well as an improved MUST weight loss assessment.”

This functionality relates to CQC’s E3.5 key line of enquiry, helping care staff to identify and manage risks to people with complex needs in relation to their eating and drinking. The new IDDSI framework available in Mobile Care Monitoring prioritises patient safety, reducing the risk of harm to residents and keeping them safer. By incorporating the IDDSI framework into Mobile Care Monitoring, Person Centred Software helps to alleviate any additional burden of documenting IDDSI framework manually from the care provider.