True stories and honest advice from care providers about switching to digital

Care providers in Staffordshire have been sharing their experiences of going digital in a series of new videos, as part of the Digitising Social Care programme’s Clock is Ticking campaign. 

Aimed at highlighting the limited time left to apply for funding to set up digital social care records, the campaign points adult social care providers in the direction of local help and support. 

The switch to digital has helped the team at The Old Rectory in Fradswell, Stafford, to understand their residents better, according to team leader Jessica Brown. 

“Everything's a lot easier to understand, especially with the fact you've got the care plans on there, which you can have on you at all times, on the system” says Jessica. 

“I think that we all understand the residents better through that because we have an opportunity to sit and read through their care plans in full detail. Any changes that are needed, we're informed of straight away. And if they need anything or if there's any changes in their care or in their capacity, we can change that plan to give them the best level of care.” 

The home’s manager Charlotte Buckley says it’s also been a lot better for staff, 

“When we were using paper over digital everything was taking a lot longer. Staff were having to set out set times of the day to update care plans, rather than putting information in at the time that they'd done personal care or if there was an incident. So sometimes the information wasn’t as accurate as it could have been.” 

Access to up to date information and care plans was also difficult for the Supported Living team at Hayward Community Living before they set up digital social care records. 

Rob Turner, befriending coordinator, explained that clients’ daily records used to be kept in their property, so they would have to physically go to their homes for information. With some people living up to half an hour apart this added a lot of time on the day. Rob says they’ve also managed to integrate two systems, “We actually still use both systems and it's been completely seamless… there hasn't really been any challenges to be honest.” 

Service manager Lucy Powell also said they’ve become a lot more responsive since the new system went live. 

“We’re able to deal with and act on alerts created by carers in terms of client medication and things like that much more quickly, so that’s been a massive improvement. Our documentation has also improved.” 

Managers and carers were also open and honest in their advice to others considering making the switch to digital. 

Charlotte Buckley, from The Old Rectory admitted, 

“We knew it was going to be a big job to go digital so we put it off. There was certainly some nervousness, but a lot of people have been pleasantly surprised by how easy the system is to use.” 

Sara Lisgo, services manager for Hayward Community Living says there are definitely processes they could have done differently and advises, 

“Allow more time for the initial set up. We had to input the information manually into the system we use and make sure all information was sent over to the app. So that took time. 

“It was a lot of work, but it was worth it once it was completed. The management of it is quick and efficient. It guides you particularly to care plans to make sure you've got all areas covered. 

“They're definitely more efficient for use for the clients, but also for the CQC. It looks brilliant.” 

On balance, the four care organisations featured in the videos were unanimous in their advice to others, 

“Go for it” said Charlotte, “because as much as it's a big jump to go from paper to digital, It just makes things a little bit easier to access, and a lot easier to check if everything's working smoothly rather than having to go and fish out the correct piece of paperwork. 

You've just got it all in the same spot - from your laptop, from home, you can even do it on your phone. It makes things a lot easier.”