How Ben Care uses best-in-class technology to help deliver high quality care
Alongside well-trained, professional and compassionate staff, two of the most important aspects of delivering excellent residential, nursing and dementia care are communication with families and keeping accurate records.
It’s so important to know, for example, what medication has been given and when, whether residents are eating and drinking and precisely what care has been provided, right down to whether their teeth have been brushed, so we always have a clear picture of each resident’s care. When families call asking how their loved one has been that day, it’s vital that we have accurate information to hand to share with them.
The introduction of digital record keeping was an important step towards improving efficiency and accuracy. Now Ben Care has moved to a mobile device-based system, called CareCloud, to enable immediate recording of all aspects of care. This means less reliance on carers’ memories, because actions are recorded at the time they are delivered, and no delay in updating each resident’s record. This is especially important when caring for people with cognitive impairment or dementia, who cannot be expected to remember what medication they have taken or when they last ate or drank. This highly accurate data recording also means we can share information more easily with colleagues and with medical professionals and inspectors from the Care Quality Commission or Local Authority, improving transparency.
With our new cloud-based system, we can also provide selected family members with controlled access to key data, offering peace of mind to loved ones. This transparency helps foster good relationships with family and friends because they can see at a glance that, for example, special diets and medications are being provided correctly.
In addition to improved accuracy, communication and transparency, our new system frees up our care teams’ time so they can focus on spending quality time with residents. The app is accessed via handheld tablet computers that carers carry with them and a few simple taps are all that is required to create accurate records.
When your loved one is in living in a care home, you want to feel reassured that they really are being well looked-after. When living with us at Ben Care homes, they will have the best care and you’ll have access to up to the minute information for real peace of mind.