Major campaign launches to put tech at the heart of care homes

Published in Digital Health, Care Home Professional, National Care Forum, Healthcare IT News, Care Management Matters, Care England, Building Better Healthcare, 75 Health

Four leading technology providers today launched a major campaign to help the care home sector move towards a stronger future post-COVID by using state-of-the-art digital services to improve their businesses.

Ascom UK, Person Centred Software, ATLAS eMAR and PainChek are partnering to help care home-owners and staff go digital and to raise awareness of the benefits when technology is put at the heart of care.

Digital services are proven to increase the cost-effectiveness of care, to improve outcomes, and to help with staff performance and retention.  Technology can also help care home-owners to address urgent concerns about future business viability. The campaign launches at an exceptionally challenging time for the sector – with high PPE costs, reduced occupancy levels and increased barriers to the outside world.

The Care Home of the Future campaign is backed by Vic Rayner, Executive Director of the National Care Forum, Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, and Ernie Graham, owner of Graham Care Homes, who will be part of the launch event - a webinar discussing ‘Where are you on your digital journey?’ on Wednesday 24 June, 1:15 pm - 2:12 pm.

Vic Rayner said: “Covid 19 has shown us that good digital infrastructure and tools are essential. Where they were already in place, the transition to remote monitoring, consultation and support was swift and, in many cases, very effective. The digital divide has been laid bare, and we need to ensure that our future focus and vision for care homes – for people, providers and government – is to rapidly build bridges and support, that enable all care homes to have in place the core architecture enabling a state of digital readiness for whatever happens next.”

Professor Martin Green OBE said: “Technology offers the opportunity for the care sector to move into the 21st-century and to deliver better outcomes for the people that we support, as well as reducing the burden on staff and improving efficiency”

With 70% of care homes still reliant on paper systems, the campaign organisers believe integrated, best-in-class technology must be central to their operation. 

They have identified three stages to becoming a Care Home of the Future:

1. The initial digitisation process by implementing a digital system
2. Joining up care by integrating with best-in-field specialists to enable continuity of care. This is across care settings from primary to secondary to residential, and back into secondary
3. Transforming care through data accessibility, incisive analysis and the ability to provide predictive and preventative care.

Ernie Graham, owner of Graham Care Homes, will be part of the webinar panel, and will explain how he is using technology to improve care for residents, and business performance.

He said: “We need to be more accountable than ever for the care we provide to our residents, not just in evidencing what we did yesterday but also in developing personalised plans for each person to meet their particular needs today based on an intimate knowledge of their situation.  Quite simply, integrated digital systems are the only way we can achieve this with the necessary levels of transparency.”

Jonathan Papworth, co-founder and director of Person Centred Software said: “The coronavirus outbreak has highlighted how woefully inadequate paper processes are for a sector as vital to society and as overstretched as ours.

By digitising care planning processes and evidencing care using mobile technology, providers can make time efficiencies that empower carers and enable them to closely monitor residents’ wellbeing. Most importantly of all, digital systems make it possible to spot care trends – good and bad – and continually improve quality of care.”

On Wednesday 24 June (13:15-14:15) care home-owners are invited to a webinar discussion: ‘Where are you on your digital journey?’  It will be led by Vic Rayner, Executive Director of the National Care Forum, Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, and Ernie Graham, owner of Graham Care Homes.