PCS Care | Care planning 

Care planning allows care providers to understand why a resident is receiving care, the resident's medical history, preferences and personal details. Care plans also include vital information for care staff to help them give the best possible care, support and treatment. The aim of care planning is to help improve residents' safety and quality of life. 

Modern care organisations create comprehensive person-centred care plans with care planning systems such as PCS Care

PCS is the UK's most widely used digital social care record system and has been helping care providers deliver high-quality, person-centred care since 2013. 

You can create, manage, monitor and evidence digital social care records with PCS Care. The care planning tools in PCS Care, such as body maps, fluid and nutrition monitoring, oral hygiene, wound care, review cycles and many more, are integrated to provide comprehensive, detailed and up-to-date care plans.

PCS Care meets and exceeds the government's requirements for digitised care records and comes with many benefits, such as: 

• Create comprehensive person-centred care plans

• See relevant information in one place

• Improve care outcomes and the delivery of care 

• Enable care staff to evidence care as it happens in real-time

• Enhances information security

• Boosts operational performance 

• Joins up health and social care information, improving the coordination of care

Customers regularly tell us that our software frees up carers to spend more time to spend with residents, and has improved the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of care staff and residents.  

Consistency is a key reason that care staff create and use care plans. The plan ensures care is delivered consistency, tailored for the resident, no matter who is caring for them. 

If a good care plan is in place, then care will be consistent despite staff changeovers, rota changes, visits or schedule changes.

A care plan is a personalised record of a resident's needs, preferences, routines, risks and the support they require. It helps your team understand what matters to each person, deliver consistent person-centred care and make sure everyone is working towards the same goals. Clear, up-to-date care plans also support compliance, improve communication and help achieve better outcomes for residents.

A care plan should reflect the individual needs, preferences and goals of the person receiving care.

For a care home resident, here are some examples of what might be included in the care plan:

• What's important to me

• What I can do myself
• Assessment of my care needs
• My wishes and preferences
• Adaptations or equipment to make my home or room more comfortable and safer
• Details about my personal alarm that I can use in an emergency
• Records of care provided
• Desired outcomes

A good care plan is truly person-centred, reflecting the individual's wishes, preferences, needs and goals.

The care plan should be developed with the involvement of the person receiving care if possible, helping them stay in control of decisions about their support.

Effective care plans are:

• Clear and easy for staff to understand

• Tailored to the individual's needs and preferences

• Focused on maintaining independence

• Regularly reviewed and updated

• Flexible enough to adapt to changing needs

• Structured around agreed outcomes and goals

• Clear about actions, responsibilities and progress monitoring

• Secure and accessible to the professionals involved in care

When care plans are accurate, up to date and centred around the individual, they help teams provide more consistent care and achieve better outcomes.

A care plan should be created after a full assessment of a person's needs, preferences and circumstances.

If possible, the person receiving care should be involved in the process, along with their family, advocates or other professionals.

Care plans should then be reviewed and updated regularly to reflect any changes in needs, goals or outcomes.

Care plans are usually created by care professionals working closely with the person receiving care.

The aim is to build a clear understanding of the individual's needs, preferences and goals, then document how support will be provided.

Family members, advocates and other professionals may also contribute to help make sure the care plan is an accurate reflection of the person, and supports person-centred care.

Care plans should be reviewed regularly and updated whenever a person's needs, preferences or circumstances change.

Regular reviews help make sure care remains appropriate, person-centred and aligned with the outcomes you're working towards.

People are more likely to achieve positive outcomes when they're involved in decisions about their own care and support. Involving residents in care planning helps ensure their wishes, preferences and goals remain at the centre of care, leading to a more person-centred approach.

Yes, this is where multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) come in. Good care planning often involves information from multiple professionals and services working together to support the person receiving care. This could include input from GPs, nurses, therapists, social workers and other specialists.

MDTs are a mix of health and care professionals who are members of different organisations and professions who work together to make decisions about the treatment of individuals. There are MDTs in both health and social care. 

By bringing relevant information together, care teams can develop a more complete understanding of a person's needs and make sure care is coordinated, consistent and person-centred.