Care home technology
Putting innovative technology into practice in care homes
Warwickshire care provider WCS Care has long been an early adopter of innovative technology in its care homes. Here, chief executive Ed Russell reflects on how technology is helping it continue to put quality of life at the forefront of everything it does in the present and the future
New Year’s Day in 1992 was my first shift as a carer. I remember it well. It was a chilly Wednesday morning and I was literally thrown in at the deep end, helping residents from the off – no experience and no formal training. It was only meant to be a temporary
move but it introduced me to a career that is about people and one where I knew I could help make someone’s day – and I realised the impact carers had on people’s lives. Little did I know it would mark the start of a career spanning 30 years. A lot has changed in that time. Back in the 1990s, a carer’s role was often seen as getting people up, washed, dressed, fed and toileted, and residents would often have to entertain themselves. Care is very different now to what it was
30 years ago, it is more than just the basics. Our carers take an enabling role, helping people do as little or as much as they like, focusing on the quality of life – and they are now recognised more widely by the general public for the heroes they are and the vital role they have in our society. Technology has a greater role in care now than it did three decades ago. This is
Woodside Care Village won the National LABC Building Excellence Award for Best Purpose Built Accommodation
something we have embraced in recent years, and which is becoming more embedded across the sector too.
More time to care with electronic care planning
Back in 1992, carers would spend the last hour or so of their shift writing up notes detailing the care they had given to residents – and that has been the norm for many care homes across the country for decades. It still is in many cases. We know recording the personal care for each resident every day is an important part of a carer’s role – it means incoming shifts know what has happened that day and what needs to happen. However, we felt that the time filling in paperwork could be better spent on the households, caring. So, around six years ago, we searched for another way of doing things and came
WCS Care is continuing to assess circadian lighting and whether it is feasible to retrofit into older buildings as part of a wider programme of refurbishment
April 2022
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com
across Mobile Care Monitoring from Person Centred Software. This is a clever piece of software that helps us capture every aspect of a resident’s care instantly at the touch of a button.
It is installed at all 13 WCS Care homes - including homes for older people and our homes for younger adults living with physical disabilities - and we use small, handheld devices to capture all elements of a resident’s care quickly and efficiently. Care is recorded by touching appropriate icons and an algorithm automatically generates the notes - with space to add more specific text if needed - immediately, saving carers valuable time that they can spend with residents. We have found the process to be very intuitive, and carers have been clear they would never want to return to the more traditional way of doing things. Mobile Care Monitoring is also linked to the Relatives Gateway tool, which means relatives can also see relevant information about their loved one’s care in real time, anywhere with an internet connection as long as they have the appropriate consent in place to view this information.
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