Procedures
far more efficient, and issues - ranging from a leaking tap to an overheated radiator, broken chair or cold food - can immediately be reported to a relevant person. “What I needed for this side of the business
was a degree of automation”, says Steve Brine, estates manager at Hallmark. “I was looking at ways to innovate. A combination of digital assistants and automated monitoring has helped me overcome some of the major pains I was dealing with. Time is precious. By digitising certain activities that were previously very time-consuming, I have this extra lump sum of time that I’ve reinvested back into the business.” One of the key advantages is that care home procedures can be rolled out at scale to all personnel to encourage a consistent approach. It also enables temporary staff or colleagues who are covering additional duties to quickly pick up what needs to be done, without the need for separate training.
Automated monitoring frees up staff time There is also an increasing role for automated monitoring to take on some of the manual checking routines that take staff away from their most important care-giving duties. Automated monitoring of food storage temperatures, for example, strengthens food safety standards while relieving staff of a burdensome routine task. There is a similar argument for 24/7 monitoring of temperature-sensitive medicine storage. Monitoring of other equipment - including freezers, air conditioning and heating systems - will
Care home procedures are more important than ever
also free up staff time as smart building technologies expand into more and more care homes.
Care home managers have had to
pivot and adapt rapidly to changing requirements, depending on infection rates, public health policy, regulatory guidelines, and staff absences. Conventional paperwork is resistant to change, whereas
Hallmark cuts audit time by 40 per cent
Hallmark recently introduced Checkit’s intelligent operations platform to digitise manual compliance, maintenance, and quality procedures in the estates team. During the initial pilot programme at a single property, data from the platform showed maintenance issues were addressed 10 times faster, reducing the average response time to 20 hours. Additionally, there was a 40 per cent reduction in time spent on audits while the completion rate of routine room checks rose from 96 to 100 per cent. Managers are benefitting from 24/7 real-time oversight of operations which enables them to reduce the requirement for in-person site visits, pinpoint functions in need of targeted
support, and drive a proactive approach to problem-solving and performance improvement. The success of the initial deployment means the Checkit platform is now being expanded across the group and introduced to the catering, hospitality, and care teams.
According to Hallmark estates manager Steve Brine: “The workload was such that we had to look at smarter ways of working. Rather than spending so much time traveling to and from homes to conduct audits, I’m now able to check in every day and look at trends. It’s far more efficient, giving me more time to add value into the business and engage in more strategic planning.”
digital systems enable large amounts of customisation, allowing managers to adapt and update care home procedures quickly and effectively. Another advantage of digital approaches is that they feed information back to managers who need to know what is working and, perhaps even more importantly, what is not working. It is now possible to test new ways of working, analyse the results and adapt accordingly. The data that digital systems report back via dashboards give managers immediate visibility of weaknesses – before they escalate into major issues. Training initiatives, intensive cleaning or increased maintenance can be directed where they are needed most. This approach feeds a cycle of continuous improvement that helps care home managers stay one step ahead.
Reporting on care home procedures In a difficult working environment, the demands of reporting place an additional burden on staff who are already stretched. Yet reporting is vital – firstly to satisfy regulatory requirements and compliance standards. Failures can be met with heavy fines. Secondly, reporting strengthens the confidence of the other important stakeholder group - families - whose trust in your business is at the root of revenue growth.
Families of care home residents play an important role in researching the options
June 2022
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