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Care plans go digital A long-awaited revolution in the way our care homes work begins next year - with the introduction of electronic care planning.

A number of our care homes have been testing the technology since 2018 to understand how it works and its effectiveness in reducing the time taken to compile and update every resident’s personal care plan. And with positive results, the green light to roll-out the technology to all care homes was given earlier this year and included in our ONE Plan programme of technology and related activities. A new software provider – Person Centred Software (PCS) – has been appointed following a rigorous tender process overseen by a range of care colleagues in various roles across the country.

Plans have now been drawn up to introduce the technology to groups of homes at a time, together with comprehensive training and support, beginning very early in the new year. Director of Care Quality Cath Holmes said: “It’s really exciting to see that we’ll soon be introducing electronic care planning in all our homes. “This is a multi-million pound investment to replace paper-based processes, and a real example of how we’re listening and acting on colleague feedback – as comments about the need for electronic care planning are frequently mentioned in the Colleague Survey.”

“The existing paper plans are time- consuming to produce and update. By replacing them with a digital system, carers can spend more time supporting residents, and we’ll also improve the accuracy of the information captured, by carers being able to input it at the time care is provided.” There are also environmental benefits too: In the 12 months to April 2022, 2.4 million sheets of paper containing blank care plans were ordered and delivered to our care homes – all of which needs considerable storage space once completed.

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