Digital records help care homes to work smarter and safer 

Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Health and Care Partnership is supporting local care providers to take advantage of digital tools and systems like Digital Social Care Records (DSCR) so they can provide the best care for their residents. The Digitising Social Care programme is funding a number of projects that either enable digital records, prevent falls, or provide remote monitoring. 

Good quality records underpin safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care. They communicate the right information, to the right people, when they need it. Around 300 (70%) care locations across Bedfordshire, Luton, and Milton Keynes have switched to Digital Social Care Records (DSCR) – and say they wouldn’t go back. 

This electronic system is a quicker and more secure way for care homes to record medical information about the people they care for. It replaces paper records and makes it possible for the different people involved in a resident’s care to securely share relevant information where appropriate.  

Chetna Satra, Registered Manager of The Limes care home in Dunstable said: “It’s safer, it’s more robust and we wouldn’t go back any other way now. You’ve got more time because you’re quicker at actually recording, you have more time for the people that you’re supporting. So it’s a win-win all round.” 

Bouchra Izzar, Registered Manager of Houghton Regis Community Care Scheme said: “Digital Social Care Records supported the staff to have better quality time with our residents. They have all the information in one place, and they can refer to it at any point of the day.  

“For example when the staff take residents out in the community, it’s easy for them to record the activities straight away, and information won’t be lost or missed.” 

Full training and support are provided to the care home staff to get started and to make the most of the system. The national Digitising Social Care programme is led by the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, with the aim that all adult social care providers who are registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will move to Digital Social Care Records. 

Mark Sutton, Chief Digital and Data Officer at the CQC has said: without digital records, it will become “increasingly difficult” for services to maintain a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ rating, and he strongly recommends that care providers access the funding and support on offer.  

For more information about DSCR and Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Health and Care Partnership’s Digitising Social Care programme, visit www.blmkhealthandcarepartnership.org/digitising-social-care-disc-programme and choose ‘Digital records’. 

Chetna and Bouchra are also featured in this new video which explains the benefits of Proxy Access to care homes: