Digital care records help local care provider to deliver safer, better and personalised care

In September 2024, Sembia Johnson joined M&C Home Support Limited, Bedfordshire as Registered Manager. With 19 staff and 24 clients, the company has been growing steadily since husband-and-wife team Marco Faia and Celia Alves set it up in 2020.

“We support our clients with their needs in their own home,” explains Sembia. “This can range from personal care or social calls to supporting with paperwork and shopping. As well as the two directors and myself, we have one care coordinator and one senior carer, and the rest of the team are care workers.

“I do the day-to-day operations, including compliance, training, recruitment, and welfare assessment reviews. Basically, I make sure we have enough staff and clients, and that the whole service works and runs fine.”

Every care provider registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is encouraged to improve the quality of its care by going digital. Funding has been available to make this happen locally, with support provided by the Digitising Social Care programme team at Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care System.

This includes moving from paper-based records to digital social care records (DSCR) and completing the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) self-assessment to understand how to keep people’s information safe and protect their organisation from risk. Care providers can also sign up for an NHS.net email account to enable smoother and more secure communication with GP practices and hospitals.

M&C Home Support originally used Care Planner for their rota system and was semi-digitalised. When Sembia joined, she completed the DSPT and applied for an NHSmail account, which enabled them to migrate to the Nourish digital records system. Sembia says:

“We have better control in terms of monitoring and auditing – because the records are more thorough and easier for managers to look through. Digital notes are easier to read than handwritten ones, so there is better accuracy. Our carers who aren’t native English speakers find the app really helpful as it suggests corrections and they can even dictate instead of typing.

“It also ensures better communication – the system makes you read the notes from the previous visit before you begin your own notes, and it enables staff and other users to leave messages for each other. The alert system is fantastic – if there’s something we need to be aware of, we know about it immediately.

“And there is better compliance and accountability. The system does not allow you to access the notes for your next client until you have completed the previous record, and queries if you log out sooner than the visit is scheduled to last.”

However, Sembia acknowledges there have been some challenges. Internet connection is the biggest problem – if the carers don’t have enough data on their phone, then they can’t access the app. And as they operate in a rural area, sometimes there isn’t a strong enough signal for carers to log on – which can delay the logging in time.

Digital literacy is another issue Sembia highlighted: “Some carers have needed more training and reassurance to use the app, but you just need to give them more support and time to get used to it. The app provider trained our admin staff, who then had the confidence to cascade this down to the care staff.

“Disappointingly, our clients and their relatives aren’t embracing the technology. We can offer them a login for the system so they can view the records and send us messages, but they have not responded, which is a missed opportunity.”

Sembia is certain that switching to digital records has saved staff time, improved safety and improved quality of care:

“Staff were often running late for their next visit because of doing the paperwork, but this simply doesn’t happen now. The medication was another thing that used to take a lot of time. Our carers had to look carefully at the MAR charts to make sure they give the right medication at the right time, but the DSCR shows carers only the medication that is due on that call. This has helped to reduce the chances of any errors occurring.

“When we have a new client, the carers can also look at the care plan in advance through DSCR, so they don’t spend their visit time looking at what they’re supposed to do and all the risk assessments for the first time – instead, they’re prepared. So we’re giving the care the client has requested and we know their dislikes and their preferences. It’s all there now to have easier access to.

“I’m a big advocate for DSCR for safety, accountability and compliance reasons. I think all the things that the CQC is requiring from us… these apps help us to do that.”