Tunstall Healthcare’s new nurse call system set to shake up industry
Connected care and health solutions provider Tunstall Healthcare has launched an innovative and revolutionary nurse call system, Tunstall Carecom. Already supporting over 60,000 residents across Europe, the advanced wireless and digital system moves beyond traditional, fixed call-points to a wireless system. Tunstall Carecom has been developed to meet the demands of modern care delivery and support residential and nursing care homes. The wireless and digital technology enables care to be more efficient and responsive, and allows for straightforward, non-obtrusive installation. Care home residents are offered a high degree of security and freedom with receivers placed around the building and locatability beacons placed at strategic locations, which interact with smart pendants. These products allow users to raise alarm calls but also offer benefits including location reporting, cancel at source, access control and geofencing. The system also supports numerous telecare integrations and sensors, including wearable devices and offers automatic alarms, along with early detection of changes in the behaviour of residents and solutions tailored for individual needs. Working across a number of devices, including mobile phones, carers are able to manage the system from anywhere at any time, securing rapid responses and enabling person-centred care delivery. An intelligent workflow algorithm within the mobile application works to create a more effective care delivery team whilst the customisable reporting platform supports management in making better informed, data-driven decisions. Gavin Bashar, UK & Ireland Managing Director at Tunstall Healthcare, commented: “As our population ages and pressures increase on over 10,000 residential nursing care homes in the UK, we need to understand the key role technology has to play. Products like Tunstall Carecom, which moves away from the traditional one-size-fits-all approach, offers a modular and customisable solution, enabling nursing care homes and carers to manage challenges and deliver effective, high quality and person-centred care.” Case study: Park View Nursing Home, Halifax Park View Nursing Home in Halifax is a 41 bed home offering comprehensive and individualised 24-hour care. Park View had an 18-year old nurse call system which used wall mounted units in residents’ rooms which would emit loud alarms throughout the building if a resident activated the unit. Several screens in communal areas of the building would then give details of the resident asking for assistance. In addition, the home used telecare sensors such as pressure mats and fall detectors which would raise an alert on a CareAssist pager when triggered. As the existing nurse call system was coming to the end of its life, the Park View management team began to review options for its renewal, and how any new system could also support the use of telecare. As a result, they looked into the use of Tunstall Carecom, initially solely as a telecare platform alongside a traditional-style nurse call system, but soon realised that Tunstall Carecom could provide a cost-effective, advanced and integrated nurse call and telecare system. Park View’s Tunstall Carecom system comprises nine mobile phones for staff, three wireless receivers and a property exit system by the main door. Each phone has the Tunstall Carecom app installed. Four phones are allocated to night staff who work from 7.30 pm to 7.30 am. During the day, staff have been divided into two groups, with four carers active on the ground floor and four on the first floor, along with a team leader. All residents wear a smart pendant on their wrist or around their neck which enables them to call for help from anywhere in the building, rather than only from a room unit as previously, and gives care staff the ability to locate and quickly assist them. Pendants can also be used by staff as a panic alarm if required. Since its installation, the management at Park View have discovered that the Tunstall Carecom system has numerous advantages over a traditional nurse call system: Reduced noise levels The previous system relied on fixed alarm call points throughout the building, which meant that in order to alert staff wherever they were, a loud noise had to be emitted to reach throughout the home 24 hours a day. This impacted negatively on the atmosphere in the home, and also increased anxiety in residents and visitors as they were aware that the alerts indicated some kind of adverse event may be happening. Tunstall Carecom alerts are delivered discreetly to relevant carers’ phones, meaning residents are no longer disturbed, day and night, improving their sleep patterns and quality of life. It also means Park View is a nicer place to work. Increased dignity Tunstall Carecom means that only relevant staff rather than everyone in the building is alerted to events. This means the right staff can attend quickly and discreetly, increasing the privacy and dignity of residents. Because the name of the resident concerned is visible only on carers’ mobiles, rather than on screens throughout the building, this also supports GDPR compliance. Efficiency As Tunstall Carecom operates as an app, staff can easily call each other to communicate on their mobiles. The old system meant staff regularly had to search the building to locate each other if they needed support, such as help with a resident or locating a piece of equipment. The previous system also meant that staff had to visit a fixed room unit or display screen in order to view active alarm calls, rather than being able to view them from wherever they were in the building. Alerts can be cancelled at source from the pendant, avoiding the need for staff to cancel on a fixed wall unit. Because the system operates using mobile phones, if the emergency services are required, staff can call 999 immediately, saving valuable time. Increased morale Staff at Park View feel happier at work, due to the reduced noise, ease of communication and more efficient working practices. Tunstall Carecom has also been configured to ensure workload is spread more evenly amongst the staff at Park View. Alarms are issued to carers’ mobiles on dynamically, so if a carer has just received a call, the next alarm
Improving residential care through digital transformation
Colin Yates, chief support officer at WorkMobile – an award-winning mobile data capture solution – discusses the links between going paperless and the quality of residential care. Over the past few years, digital transformation has become an increasingly hot topic in business circles. There is a very good reason for this: done well, digital transformation drives efficiency and improves productivity, saving a business both time and money. Enterprises in almost all industries stand to benefit from their own digital transformation projects, and the residential care home sector is no exception. The question is, what would this look like? At its most basic level, digital transformation is the use of digital technologies to solve traditional problems. So, there is a need to identify which areas of a business have historically proved challenging and could be improved by incorporating new technology such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. Residential care homes are often very reliant on paper-based processes. From care plans and risk assessments, to safeguarding reports and health assessments, there is inherently a lot of paperwork involved in the day to day running of a care home business, and given that there didn’t use to be an alternative to physical documentation, many have continued to operate with traditional processes. However, a heavy reliance on paper can cause significant problems. If essential paperwork is not completed and filed in a timely and correct manner, this can lead to standards of care slipping and concerns being raised by the CQC. As a result, some forward-thinking care home operators have begun their digital transformations by implementing cloud-based electronic care record software. This type of software has the ability to completely eliminate the need for paper, with all documents being completed digitally instead, often via an app on a mobile device or tablet. The information in these documents can then be saved automatically to a central reporting platform, that can be accessed instantly by all authorised members of staff, wherever they’re based. Modernising care home businesses by going paperless can have a host of wide-reaching benefits for all of those involved. Care workers For staff working on the front lines, outdated paper-based processes create an unnecessary administrative burden. Completing all paperwork by hand takes time, and each document must then be filed away carefully. In some cases, the information in this paperwork is also manually inputted into a digital database, taking up even more time and being open to errors. With digital alternatives, documents can be accessed much more easily and filled in much more quickly, with no need for any time to be spent on filing. Information can be recorded in real time as staff go about their duties, meaning that data held about residents is more likely to be complete and accurate. Where appropriate, certain sections can also be pre-populated to save time and unnecessary repetition. This means that care workers don’t have to worry about having to stay late after their shift to complete outstanding admin tasks, offering them a better work-life balance and giving them more time to concentrate on providing the best possible service to those in their care. Residential care home operators For care home operators, one of the main benefits is a significant reduction in operational costs. Relying on paper-based processes is expensive, with one study suggesting that it can cost even a very small business as much as £14,616 each year. Implementing a digital care record solution can greatly decrease ongoing expenses, by minimising or even eliminating the need for paper, printers and physical storage. One major problem caused by relying on paper-based processes is that it can be difficult to ensure the confidentiality of patient information. Digital solutions can allow management to set permissions dictating who has access to which levels of information saved on the system. For care homes that experience a high turnover of carers, or rely heavily on agency staff, this is an easy and effective way to protect patient confidentiality. It can also be extremely difficult to keep large amounts of paperwork organised. This makes it much more likely that important documents will be filed incorrectly or misplaced altogether. Missing paperwork puts patients at risk, and leaves care providers vulnerable to compliance issues which could negatively affect their CQC rating. Digital systems eliminate this issue, while also making it much easier for staff to interrogate previous reports and see any outstanding tasks. With this additional safety net, care home operators can feel confident that they are providing the best possible quality of care and meeting the CQC’s high standards. It’s clear that embracing digital transformation is a relatively simple way to overhaul a care business. Just by going paperless, it’s possible to improve working conditions for staff, reduce costs, and increase CQC compliance, making it worth serious consideration for care home operators looking to improve their excellent standards of care. For more information on Improving residential care through digital solutions, visit www.workmobileforms.com
