We got asked to help out at a 27 bed home that has been ‘Needs Improvement’ for the last three inspections. The manager had left and had taken all her annual leave so no real handover. We installed an interim manager to ensure the home was compliant with regulation and provided safe, effective, and responsive care.

Here is how our first week panned out…

Day One: Fortunately CAREis had been set up recently, so we were able to see if audits were up to date. They weren’t! We did know that policies would be up to date as they happen automatically in CAREis. We also spent some time reviewing care plans and assessments to ensure they had sufficient information. This will be an ongoing process over the next few weeks, where every care plan will be fully reviewed.

Day Two: We prioritised Medication, Infection Control and Health and Safety Audits. Fortunately, not too many actions, but any issues identified were added to CAREis and delegated to the relevant person. We will continue to monitor the action plan in CAREis to make sure we meet set deadlines and record progress.

Day Three and Four: Inspection documents had not been added to CAREis so it took quite a bit of time to locate the relevant information to ensure external contractors had performed necessary safety checks and inspections. Paper documents were stored in different folders, in different areas, and were difficult to find. We found that the Legionella and independent Fire inspection had not taken place. This was understandable due to COVID restrictions, but made sure they were now booked.

Day Five: Staff Training and Supervisions were reviewed and although some had been completed, there were several gaps. We allocated training to staff for completion as soon as possible, and booked supervisions through CAREis. We continued to review and update care plans, and were able to keep an eye on the care and support being completed through the CAREis main dashboard.

There will be a lot more work to review care plans, complete all audits, and ensure actions were completed, but we have made a good start.

If an electronic system was not already in place, the process would have been much more difficult. We saved a lot of time having the information easy to access and easy to update.

To find out more about how CAREis can help with regulatory advice and support, or to see how our care management system works, please do contact us.