After dealing with the perfect storm which was the Coronavirus pandemic hitting care homes across the globe, we saw a step change in how the sector regards digital transformation. During this time, care teams faced a series of difficult decisions which only seemed to have unfavourable options. Do we stop family visits? Do we implement isolation policies? Do we buy testing kits even though we’re not sure how reliable they really are?

Care homes took on new patients to help ease the burden on the NHS, despite already being at capacity, and the hard work, difficult decisions, and risks that care teams have taken this year are nothing short of heroic. It felt like the odds were truly stacked against them, as person-centered care suffered due to the fact the main priority became simply keeping everyone healthy. 

Managing in such scenarios brought home how important good communication and coordination of care is. The value of having access to information, without the burden of reporting became immense. And care homes who had already embarked on digital transformation were able to get a much better situational awareness when managing their teams over the last few months. 

Digital information is actionable – teams can use digital to coordinate with each other and with others in the community, such as GPs, all while keeping auditing teams aware of the support each person is receiving, with clear context. 

While some providers are still resistant to change, they are now coming to realise that paper records don’t help them manage change or achieve the agility needed to respond to a pandemic. We’ve already begun to see a huge shift in the way care services work, and views on digital are changing, as those considering the benefits of digital are now in the majority. 

As we begin to reflect on the last few months, care services from around the globe have shared stories of how they successfully managed virus outbreaks in their homes. These largely consist of a proactive approach to closely monitoring symptoms, and the symptoms of suspected cases of Covid-19, accessing frequent testing, implementing robust barrier measures, and doing everything possible to stop the infection from spreading.

A digital way of working provides the ability to analyse data quickly and to coordinate teams by sharing current status of infection, which can ultimately put a team ahead of the game in order to predict and prepare for how the situation progresses. 

A digital system will also support effective contact tracing, which in turn allows you to model staff absences, know when and where to implement stricter isolation policies, and clearly see who is most at risk amongst those in your care, so you can do everything you can to protect those you support. 

In light of this, and with the prospect of potentially being hit by a second wave, those who were reluctant to make the switch before are now having a change of heart. Care in a post-Covid world is likely to see a huge digital transformation, which sounds daunting, but could really be the silver lining that makes the health and social care sector more efficient, agile and better prepared to support each person in a way that is truly centred on the person and not shaped by “systems”. 

Getting the most out of a digital transformation requires the mindset of being on a journey – it’s not just about buying a product. We usually summarise it as a three-stage process, which will gradually increase your maturity and unleash new benefits as digital becomes more embedded.

Stage 1: review what you record, consider why you record it. At Nourish we are able to accelerate this process if you want to accept our libraries of documentation shaped by best practice stemming from hundreds of providers, but you can adjust it to what is right for you.

Stage 2: You start by bringing your care teams on board – user experience is really important, as well as the experience you are offered by the supplier. At Nourish we help our clients with adoption of the new system by ensuring each person in their care team is trained. We give them all the assets necessary to ensure everyone who needs to be informed is engaged on the journey.  As an immediate result, care workers see a reduction in the time spent writing down notes, better awareness of the status of each person they’re supporting, and a sense of empowerment.

Stage 3: As information is recorded digitally, data quality improves dramatically, and this opens the opportunity to explore how analytics can help provide better tools to run a care provider. Insights extracted from care data can support improvement in all areas, clearly on quality of care, but also in audit processes, operations and financial sustainability;

The ability to analyse data is a huge benefit in a care setting beyond the battle against Covid-19. In a day-to-day setting, data and analytics allows care teams to record and monitor data, and spot trends in those they support. This level of insight greatly increases the quality of care that is provided to individuals. 

During the Covid-19 outbreak we continued to support care providers with remote training, support and rolling out our services, in the same way we did before, but now using video conference, which has proven to be very effective.

Digital will also mean that Social Care will be able to share information with the NHS where applicable. In sharing patient data with the relevant healthcare professionals at the click of a button, teams are far more equipped to provide the safest form of care at all times, which in some cases could be the difference someone having to be admitted into hospital or being cared for safely where they are, and in extreme cases may mean the difference between life and death. 

Ultimately, going digital has the potential to introduce a much-needed flow of knowledge, inclusivity and empowerment between care teams, healthcare professionals and most importantly, those being supported and their families. Clear evidencing of care, following best practice, and establishing how to improve through insight from care data will undoubtedly shape the future of health and social care. In doing so, it can put care services one step ahead in providing the best possible care for all, not just in the event of a pandemic, but for the future of care indefinitely.

For more information on Nourish and how it can help your care service, book a demo today! 

On the 26th & 27th March 2019 we are once again packing up and heading north to the NEC in Birmingham. On Stand D760 our team will be showcasing all we stand for here at Nourish ????

We will be giving attendees live demonstrations of how the Nourish platform saves care teams significant time, allows for the better recording & evidencing of care and ensures information is always accessible and useful to those who need it.

Also joining the team on the 26th March is our very own Founder and CEO, Nuno Almeida ????

Nuno will be taking to the stage to discuss a topic very close to our hearts:

“Digital Transformation: How is data driving better care“

All too often, we hear about ‘data’ in care but what does that really mean? What impact can collating and analysing day-to-day care information have on the quality of support care teams can provide? How do we move away from simply business analytics practice, to having a very real impact on peoples lives?

On the 26th March, Nuno will explore just that. He will explore the importance of data through real-life stories of care, showing how and why information can be so much more than compliance-led; and how, when used correctly, it can have an incredible impact on a person’s quality of life ????‍????‍????‍????

Join Nuno on the 26th March by purchasing your complimentary tickets HERE

We look forward to meeting you there!

We’re going to be attending this year’s Health Plus Care show held in the Excel, London from the 29th to the 30th of June. Billed as the largest national integrated care conference, we’re hoping the event will be a big one for the industry and will be showing off our care management system on stand Q30.

Health Plus Care aims to bring together four different shows, which means that over 9000 attendees from the NHS, care providers, public health and local authorities will be visiting across the two days.

We’ll be demonstrating how Nourish empowers carers and health professionals in almost all health settings, and offering some yummy treats for hungry event goers too. This year we’re also offering one lucky care professional a fantastic spa weekend. All you have to do is visit the stand and talk to the team to find out more.

As a final note we can also provide some last minute guest tickets for any Nourish clients who might’ve missed out on signing up for the event, but still want to go. As tickets are almost sold out at this point, we’d like to make sure all of our clients have the opportunity to attend.

To find out more, drop us an email to caring@nourishcare.co.uk or get in touch  via Intercom and we’ll make sure that you and your team have some complimentary guest passes on us!

We’re looking forward to seeing you there.

We have just exhibited at the Bournemouth Care Show where we had another opportunity to talk to a large number of care providers in two days.

We love meeting people who are at the forefront of care, people who truly understand what it is about because they are there, bringing care to people who need it most.

We heard plenty of great stories. Our care product is now in use up and down the country. Because we can now use technology to help make sure that very long list of care essentials is managed smarter, there is more time to look at how care can be even better. People are talking about how they can make families feel and be even more involved, and most importantly, how care can be truly all about the person.

We are all human and we can now use technology to bring even more of our human side into care. We have seen imagination in care, things that make people smile, and laugh, and enjoy themselves. We have seen more Wii consoles, holidays and daytrips, but there is plenty of smart thinking behind this. Events and activities can be recorded and then built into daily memory games. This kind of thinking not only improves quality of care, but is motivating for staff, and helps everyone take a step back and be reminded of what care is about: helping people enjoy the best quality of life possible.

We need this kind of innovative thinking to take us to our vision of care in the future. There are tools we have, like digital care recording, and tools we can expand further – like Internet of Things and consumer wearable devices. These give us the opportunity to revolutionise the way we think, and do, care. Together, we can make the focus less about selling hours of care or beds, and more about wellbeing, peace of mind, and making care smarter, and better. We’re here for that journey.

Nourish is proud to announce the launch of a game changing care management product. Writing notes and handling paper records are recurrently quoted as leading contributors to loss of productivity from care providers, and motivation from carers. Nourish removes the chore from daily note recording and care plan updating.

With an all new care integration product, combined with carefully designed mobile apps, Nourish enables carers to record tasks and outcomes on the go. Nourish has managed to bring back the joy of caring, and remove some of the most resource heavy aspects of the job.

Nourish’s apps are completely driven by a secure cloud care plan. This care plan is then used to coordinate everyone who needs to stay in the loop, reducing overall disconnect between families, carers and commissioners. The company is therefore enabling providers to step forward in full alignment with the guidelines of the upcoming Care Act 2015 in all aspects of care integration, community and family engagement in care provision and reporting. Care providers can in turn engage families by offering a secure app to the next of kin, who can stay in the loop of the care being provided.

Nourish Care is exhibiting at stand D14, Birmingham Care Show, 4-5 November 2014.