Coate Water Care’s nine care homes are renowned for their premier installations and professional, empathetic carers. Perhaps less well known is our heavy investment in the latest care sector IT – technology that plays a key part in safeguarding our residents’ well-being, especially in challenging times like the COVID-19 pandemic.
EMAR and PCS are two prime examples of this technology at the service of residents.
EMAR is an electronic system which ensures we deliver the right medication at the right time. The system allows administration to be accurately recorded and alerts users to any medication which may be missed.
With EMAR, our operations team are able to monitor administration remotely at any time and can review performance. For instance, we can immediately draw up figures for medication not administered and the reasons why.
PCS (Personalized Care planning) is an electronic system on which we record all care plans and risk assessment. Staff are prompted throughout the day with “what’s next” tasks to ensure we never miss planned care. We can record food, fluids, turns and personal care at the time this happens using a device similar to a mobile phone.
Managers including the operations team can remotely check care plans are correct and essential care is being carried out. PCS also provides some useful information regarding the home such as frequency of falls and weight management. This allows for trends to be established and appropriate actions taken. On-call management can access all records in real time should a home need additional support.
Coate Water Care has also invested heavily in online training for staff this year, moving from traditional training via face to face and workbooks followed by assessment to a new model.
Sue Houldey, Director of Operations at Coate Water Care says: “We still deliver a whole range of training face to face but have moved to on-line training in subjects as wide as record keeping, diabetes, food and nutrition.”
“Staff are able to access the training using a laptop or smart phone and the training courses include interactive segments. This has made the training much more accessible for staff who can complete this online at any time that suits them. This is a popular development especially with our younger staff who enjoy the interactivity of this type of training.”
Sue concludes: “As a company, Coate Water Care has always invested in the latest care sector technology with the aim of delivering the most efficient service to our residents and being able to track in real time their progress and needs. This will continue to be a central part of our ethos moving forward.”
To find out more about the care of residents at Coate Water Care or to make any other enquiries about our homes, please contact our Welcome Team on 01793 821200.
