Digital solutions Case study


Orchard Care Homes has been running care homes across the UK for over a decade and has established a strong reputation in the care industry for providing quality care for the elderly. With 23 care homes in the Northwest, Northeast, Yorkshire and the Midlands, Orchard is the largest care provider in the UK to use PainChek to identify pain in its residents living with dementia.


Orchard has seen many positive outcomes for its residents, including a 100 per cent increase in pain assessments for those unable to verbalise pain, a reduction in distress response behaviours, and a reduction in the use of benzodiazepines and antipsychotics.


Hannah Miller, dementia lead at Orchard, explained: “Integration of PainChek in Orchard Care Homes’


10-year plan to better utilise technology to benefit those receiving care, including the aged population, and caregivers, which includes committing £150m to drive greater adoption of technology and digitisation across the adult social care industry. Moreover, in 2021 the CQC introduced


a new strategy for health and social care with a focus on using AI and data science to support robust decision-making and encouraging the use of technology-enabled services to deliver more effective and efficient care.


While this is, of course, a step in the right


direction, the report found that further investment in technology is required to help deliver high-quality clinical care, improve resident outcomes, and inspire future growth.


The report included comments from


care sector leaders, among them Martin Green, CEO of Care England, who said: “Digital systems make working in care less bureaucratic and enable staff to focus on the important work of enabling and supporting people to live well. This is bound to have a positive impact on both recruitment and retention because people come into our sector to make a difference to the people they support.”


Technology in action While AI is sometimes seen as taking away the human touch, the opposite is true of PainChek - the world’s first regulatory-


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electronic care plan system (Person Centred Software) has enabled our nursing teams to closely monitor and assess the pain experience of individuals in their care using a mobile care device, providing staff with a long-term view of when a resident is likely to experience pain. “Orchard strives to incorporate


technological advances and put them into practice to ensure we are enabling all our residents to achieve good outcomes and be afforded equitable care regardless of their cognitive ability or ability to self-report health concerns such as pain. Residents who are not able to effectively verbally communicate pain that were previously disadvantaged are now on an equal footing with those that can communicate effectively.”


As a supporter and advocate of digital


cleared medical device for the assessment of pain - which we designed to enable best- practice pain management for people living with pain in any environment, from those who cannot reliably self-report their pain, those who can, and for those whose ability to self-report their pain fluctuates. In developing this technology it was key


that we retained the active involvement of carers in the process by not replacing human interaction with residents, thus demonstrating how AI complements the workforce by assisting them to put into practice the skills and knowledge that AI is unable to replace, such as creativity, communication, and critical thinking. On average, 70 per cent of residential and care home residents have a form of cognitive impairment such as dementia, with around half of these experiencing chronic or acute pain at any given time. This is a problem that is currently


not well addressed, and yet dementia prevalence is on the increase and set to double in 20 years. The benefits of good pain management within health and social care are numerous, but the sector currently relies on historic tools. These are cumbersome to use, particularly with people unable to communicate their needs, and pain assessments are subjective, and may be inaccurate and inconsistent. Our solution, and its AI-driven data, results, and reporting, identifies and accurately measures the ‘pain burden’


technology, Orchard has also introduced a mobile care monitoring system and an electronic medication management system and has developed an in-house governance digital dashboard. These systems support staff to focus their time and skills on where they are most needed and improve work efficiency. “PainChek empowers our workforce to conduct effective pain assessments in people that cannot reliably verbalise their pain,” Hannah added. “The app is easy to use, and staff feel motivated when they see the positive impact they can make in minutes.


“Orchard is sharing the data with clinicians to effect change: paramedics can see pain levels, and families feel reassured that we have the latest technology to help those living with dementia.”


to ensure enhanced quality of life for residents.


A brighter future Across the world, harnessing technology is seen as a key strategy for improving care standards and handling increasing costs. Digitisation delivers enormous benefits for care providers, from streamlining administration processes, to the development and management of care plans and support functions. This will result in greater productivity and reduced workload for staff, helping unlock effectiveness and reduce stress, so that staff can focus on their primary role – to support and deliver relationship-based care.


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Tandeep Gill


Tandeep Gill is head of business development UK&I at PainChek, the world’s first regulatory-cleared medical device for the assessment of pain.


www.thecarehomeenvironment.com February 2023


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