A brand new digital project designed to streamline processes and introduce a smarter way of working is being rolled out across Swanton, starting in Wales.
By shifting to the Access Care Planning software, our organisation will do all care and support planning, as well as daily recording, digitally.
Not only will this reduce time and waste with cumbersome paper administration, but it will also empower teams to report activity in real-time, monitor themes and trends, and adjust their approach if necessary to ensure the highest quality of care.
Emma Sadler, Director of Quality at Swanton, said: "We're confident that the move to ACP will first and foremost allow our support teams to spend less hours on burdensome paperwork and more time being focused on the people we support.
"Most people we support lead full and active lives, so it makes sense for their staff to record what they do on the go.
"We've also included the review process within ACP. This means that we can get the views and wishes of the people we support, and we'll be able to have a live view of 'customer' satisfaction at an individual, service and organisation-wide level.
"Being able to identify themes and trends proactively will also improve health and wellbeing outcomes. If we can see correlations, we can respond accordingly. It might be reduced fluid intake in the lead up to a UTI or more effective engagement on days when a certain staff member is on shift."
In terms of monitoring compliance and quality, ACP is a game-changer. For managers, it'll be a far more user-friendly and intuitive way of working.
Emma added: "Managers can log in to the system in the morning and gain assurance that people's support has been delivered in line with their care plans. We'll be able to track outcomes, goals and potential incidents.
"We've designed the whole system in a way that's dynamic, so you only ever input information about the person if it applies to them, and you're able to customise it. Lots of providers take a task-based approach, e.g. 'Give breakfast, support with a shower, etc'. Our activities give room for person-centred detail, e.g. ‘Emma likes the blue mug, or the taxi arrives at 8am to take Emma to school’.
"We'll have much better oversight and visibility of the care being delivered. We can track compliance with form updates and quality audit care and support plans remotely - something we'd have to travel to service to do until now."
The technological advances won't stop at ACP's current iteration either. There are already plans about how to roll out access to other stakeholders, such as families and external care professionals.
Emma explained: "We'd also like to be able to provide them with their own system access.
In the services where the system is already live, we've already had positive feedback from the Local Authority during their Quality Monitoring visit.
"We're also using the system currently in Wales alongside a system which tracks goals and outcomes. Support Workers are using a mobile phone to log their notes and adding photos and evidence of progress towards a person's goal. We've found this is hugely motivating for staff and also really outcomes focussed."
