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Creating technology to support care workers through COVID-19

Article by Person Centred Software

As we find ourselves in the middle of a second national lockdown, care providers who rely on paper to evidence care are being hit particularly hard, mainly due to the mounting pressure of time and resources it takes to evidence all the care interactions effectively and keep residents’ loved ones updated.

With time already staked against staff in paper-dependent care environments, they have been impacted further with regular staff shortages and self-isolation – meaning medical notes and records are constantly changing hands and places, increasing the likelihood of becoming lost, misplaced or unnecessarily duplicated.

In these perilous times, such errors can vastly increase the time it takes to record the care of residents, which naturally increases the risk of severe consequences. There is, however, a way to simplify administration, free-up time and increase communication through the innovative use of technology.

There is now widely adopted technology available, such as Mobile Care Monitoring from Person Centred Software, that allows care providers to digitally plan, record and monitor the care of residents, empowering staff by reducing the time it would take to physically transcribe care notes, so they can better spend it supporting residents.

The software allows staff to evidence care through a simple click of a button and while on the go, which is instantaneously saved into a secure online portal accessible to all those in the organisation who have been granted access. At a time when every second is so valuable within care environments, staff now have the capabilities to save time, reduce workloads, minimise errors, and enhance collaboration.

Person Centred Software has already adapted its digital care system to better support staff in the social care sector during the first wave of the virus. Tried and tested throughout the pandemic, its agile technology, which is used in over 2,000 care homes to evidence care interactions, saw the implementation of eight new features to help protect the elderly and vulnerable.

These included Coronavirus Reporting, Staff Coronavirus Auditing, Track and Trace Reporting, and its Relatives Gateway. In addition, its system includes many infection control features such as an Infections Register; Barrier Nursing Alerts sent to the handheld devices; and Infection Symptom Tracking. All of these improve safety, reduce risk and help to limit staff to individual groups of residents on floors/wings.

Person Centred Software has identified that monthly users of its Relatives Gateway doubled, as staff could utilise the innovative system to keep residents in touch with their family and loved ones through video calls and the sharing of images and messaging. The transparency of the tool also allowed loved ones to view resident care notes, which has been highly beneficial in providing peace of mind at a time when they haven’t been able to freely visit care environments.

It is such a pivotal time to take control in managing and controlling infections by eliminating the unnecessary burden of paper-based dependency in care environments for more effective and multifunctional technology.

If you would like to find out more about how a digital care system can benefit your care home visit www.personcentredsoftware.com or contact Person Centred Software on 01483 357657 or hello@personcentredsoftware.com