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Cura, Supported Living Software 22Oct, 2024
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Optimal Living The Limes Achieves Outstanding CQC Rating with Cura

Optimal Living The Limes Achieves Outstanding CQC Rating Overall

Optimal Living The Limes has recently received an Outstanding Rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This marks a significant milestone for its management and staff members in solidifying its position in providing high-quality care for individuals with complex care needs.

As part of CQC’s assessment methodology for people with a learning disability and autism, the service was assessed on whether they meet the Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture (RSRCRC) statutory guidance.

In its first-ever inspection, the CQC assessed Optimal Living against the key questions of Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, and Well-led. The service demonstrated exceptional care in several areas, earning Outstanding ratings for Effective, Caring, and Well-led.

 

  • Person Centred Care 

"Without exception people were being supported to live their lives the way they chose to. They were supported to be fully in control of the support they had and made choices in every single aspect of their lives. As a result of the outstanding support people received, they had been supported to achieve excellent outcomes in line with their own personal preferences and ambitions. Whilst people were unable to speak with us using verbal communication, they used signs and body language to show how happy and content they were living at the service."

  • Detailed Care Plans 

"The registered manager and provider prioritised people’s individual needs in all aspects of their support. People’s care plans were exceptional in the way they captured how to support people in the best way possible in line with their individual needs. Staff knew people very well as a result. A relative told us, ‘‘I am incredibly impressed with how staff support [family member]. Staff work with them and us to identify how best to support them in line with how they need to be supported. They do so much more for themselves now as a result of this.’’

"The service is exceptionally well-led. The registered manager and provider are fully committed to ensuring people have the best quality care they can, and that people are at the centre of every decision made in relation to their support. They had fostered a hugely positive culture and had ensured the staff team fully embraced every aspect of their job roles, putting people firmly at the centre of their support. The registered manager and provider were hugely skilled in their job roles and had outstanding systems in place and take decisive actions to continually improve the service if this was necessary."

 

  • Empowering Environment and Positive Culture

"Without exception, staff told us they enjoyed working together and there was a sense of supporting one another in their job roles to ensure the best possible support for people. A relative said, ‘‘I don’t really feel like they are a staff team but more like a family with how they all work together, and you can see how much this means to [family member].’’ Staff’s comments included, ‘‘It is an excellent and wonderful place to work here. As a team we are all of one mind and that mind is getting the best for the people who live here. We help each other out and we all always give our best so there are never any bad feelings. I have never worked in a place like this.’’ and, ‘‘It is a fantastic team here and we all help each other out."

  • Click to see the full details.

Optimal Living The Limes' success is driven by its unwavering commitment to continuous improvement. The registered manager actively seeks feedback from staff members and implements changes to ensure the best possible outcomes for the individuals they support. 

From the management, care givers to staff members, everyone at Optimal Living - The Limes is truly honoured for the outstanding rating received on its very first CQC inspection. This remarkable achievement is a testament to their team’s hard work and dedication, reinforcing the highest standards in every aspect of complex care delivery. 

Cura, Supported Living Software 27Aug, 2024
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A Beacon of Excellence: Optimal Living Wins the Employer Award

Optimal Living Improves Care Delivery with Learning Disability System

Optimal Living, a family-owned care provider with homes situated in Kent, Swindon and Bedfordshire, is renowned for its unwavering dedication to individuals with varying levels of learning disabilities, profound autism, mental health challenges and associated conditions such as non-verbal communication and other challenges requiring intensive support. They were awarded ‘The Employer Award’ for the independent category at the National Learning Disabilities Awards 2024. 

Founded by the parents of a child with autism and complex care needs, Optimal Living was born out of frustration with the lack of suitable services. What began as a response to a personal need has flourished into a beacon of hope, delivering a high standard of care to service users for over 14 years.

Optimal Living's Award-Winning Approach to Care

Optimal Living’s success is its team-oriented approach, recognising that its staff are the heart of its operations – a team of dedicated professionals passionate about making a difference in the lives of their service users and the wider community.

The recent recognition is a resounding endorsement of Optimal Living’s exceptional work. As Optimal Living continues to grow and evolve, leveraging technology to enhance care delivery, it remains committed to its core values of compassion, respect, and excellence.

Cura Elevates Learning Disability Support

Chetna Satra, a co-founder of Optimal Living, has a clear vision of delivering exceptional care, leading the search for a digital solution that could match their high standards. Their decision to partner with Cura, a specialised digital system for complex care needs, has been instrumental in transforming service delivery from day one to where they are now. Watch the full interview here.

“Cura has been an invaluable partner in our journey and has empowered our caregivers and staff members to improve the overall care experience of our service users. It’s a huge step forward!”

Prior to implementing Cura, Optimal Living faced challenges that demanded a digital system designed for complex care situations that their previous platform lacked.

"Our previous system simply wasn't designed for the demanding needs of our service users," said Chetna. "We needed a solution built for complex care settings. We wanted more transparency and accountability – a flexible and highly configurable system to handle the intricate details of care planning.”

Explore Optimal Living's trusted system for learning disability

Cura’s intuitive suite of applications, including detailed incident reporting, medication management, and behaviour tracking, has empowered Optimal Living to deliver highly person-centred care. Its ability to create customisable forms and generate insightful reports has significantly improved accountability and transparency within the organisation. 

“Cura is a 100% simple, straightforward design that makes it easy for caregivers and staff members to learn and use. It’s amazing… a brilliant software for complex care situations.”

Optimal Living's partnership with Cura is a testament to the transformative impact of technology in elevating complex care delivery. By combining the expertise of its dedicated workforce with Cura, Optimal Living consistently delivers a higher level of support to service users while enabling safer person-centred care.

Technology myths debunked by Cura Systems 23Feb, 2024
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Cura debunks these these technology myths

Cura debunks these myths and explains why technology is not as challenging as it seems

Myth #1: Technology will take over caregiving, leaving human caregivers jobless.

The need for human touch to be digitally supported has taken on a more challenging dimension as staff shortages and high vacancy rates are significantly impacting the quality of care. Digital solutions such as Cura are not designed to replace caregivers but rather to empower them.

Read More

Cura Systems, Care Recording System 25Jan, 2024
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Cura Enhances Delivery of Complex Care Needs

Let's face it...caring for people with complex care needs is complicated. We do not need to add further hassle by going digital with software that is not specifically designed for complex care.

Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all systems. You deserve a system that best suits the unique demands of complex care situations and puts you in control of every aspect of your going-digital journey.

Read More

Change Management Approach 28Jun, 2023
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Cura’s Change Management Approach to Going Digital

Technology is revolutionising businesses across a wide range of industries, and the social care sector is no exception. The word “digital” often elicits fear, particularly in social care settings where caregivers may feel intimidated by a lack of familiarity and perceive the digital transformation process as complex, challenging and daunting.

Overcoming Digital Challenges with Cura's Change Management Approach

Change management plays a pivotal role in addressing these concerns, ensuring smooth transitions, successful implementation processes and empowering individuals to embrace digital solutions. It involves a structured approach to guide care teams to understand their fears and how to overcome them through fostering a culture of openness, and provide the necessary support and resources for successful adoption.

Having successfully implemented Cura in so many challenging situations, we understand the challenges of digital transformation and offer an effective change management approach to help care providers successfully transition to digital. This approach includes the following key elements:

Read More

Fluid Balance Monitoring, Fluid Intake 23May, 2023
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Cura’s Fluid Tracking Ensures Optimal Hydration

As we age, we are more vulnerable to dehydration and fluid imbalances. This is particularly true for elderly people in care homes who may struggle to maintain appropriate hydration because of mobility or cognitive difficulties. Serious health issues such as kidney damage, urinary tract infections, and even death can result from dehydration. On the other hand, excessive hydration can result in water intoxication, which can also have detrimental effects. Accurate and timely tracking of fluid intake and outflow is crucial in ensuring service users’ hydration is met and dealt with right away.

Fluid Balance Monitoring: Crucial for Optimal Hydration in Elderly Care

To address the issue of hydration, many care providers now consider implementing a monitoring tool to keep track of the fluid balance. A specialised digital system for complex care such as Cura with features like fluid intake and output tracking, fluid balance monitoring, and daily fluid balance charts is one way to monitor and manage service user's fluid intake and output.

Here are just some of the features:

  • Calculate the total fluid intake within a defined 24-hour to 120-hour period 

Caregivers can ensure service users are receiving the appropriate amount of fluids to maintain optimal hydration levels.

  • Diet and Fluid Monitoring Chart 

Provides a visual representation of a service user's diet, fluid intake and output for a given day, allowing caregivers to quickly identify any imbalances or changes in nutritional and hydration status.

  • Daily target intake

You can set daily fluid intake targets and record all outputs for each service user based on their individual needs ensuring each service user is accurately receiving the appropriate amount of fluids.

  • Record all outputs

Record all outputs for each service user, including urine and stool output.

  • History data 

Provides a complete picture of the service user's fluid balance and helps identify any potential issues with hydration levels.

  • Alerts and notifications

Alerts caregivers when a service user’s daily fluid intake has not been and falls outside the normal range. This would allow caregivers to respond quickly and adjust their care plan.

  • …and a lot more!

Cura means Care…. bringing you peace of mind and confidence when managing the health and well-being of service users while delivering person centred care and long-term support.

Providing complex care requires a high level of support and Cura will truly match such demanding needs! If you would like to have a no-obligations, quick look at Cura, please contact us on 020 3621 9111or email at info@cura.systems for an on-line demo.

Digital Rostering Software 22Mar, 2023
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Cura Roster…helps boost staff engagement and retention!

Implementing an effective digital rostering system can have a significant impact on staff and caregivers.  Well-managed scheduling practices are more likely to create a positive work environment that fosters job satisfaction and boost staff morale, productivity, and retention rates. 

High turnover rates are very costly, and the cost is not just financial! When an employee leaves, it takes vital time and resources to hire and train a new joiner. Other staff invariably need to take on additional responsibilities, leading to increased workload, disengagement, and potential burnout.

If you are looking for a better digital rostering system that can help improve employee engagement and retention, here are a few things to consider:

  • A highly configurable workflow process and ability to filter the roster to your requirements.
  • A system that is specifically designed to handle complex care situations.
  • Flexible and scalable – provides the ability to add or remove features as needed, to scale the system up or down to meet your needs, and to integrate with other tools and systems.
  • Provide robust reporting to track and make data driven decisions about resource allocation.
  • Requires minimal training and implementation effort with an attractive and easy-to-use interface.
  • Strong security measures are in place and are compliant with GDPR.

Cura Roster is here to help!

Designed for the care sector, Cura Roster has a user-friendly interface, including “drag and drop” and alternative planning views to provide a simple way to allocate suitable caregivers to shifts and evidence staffing compliance.  

Cura Roster enables flawless management of staff rosters; in conjunction with Cura Angel, a mobile based app that allows care staff to see and confirm their shifts, etc. It provides tools and features to manage staff schedules efficiently and effectively, ensuring that you always have the right number of staff available to provide the necessary care for your service users.

Service Providers can use more advanced functions to assist in planning staffing requirements and build a roster that will help schedule the correct number of staff, required roles and skills needed for the service to work efficiently and safely, in single or multiple sites.

Here are some of the new features:  

  • Enable delegation of rota management.
  • Simplify Scheduling – create rotas with a few clicks, by location.
  • Avoid over/under staffing due to scheduling conflicts and fill empty shifts. 
  • Drag and drop shift allocations. 
  • Better visibility of caregiver workload using colour-coded shifts. 
  • ...and a lot more!

Cura care management systems contain a rich set of tools and features, and we are committed to bringing further innovations to benefit service providers. Cura is ready to support every home and ready to make a positive change to care delivery.

If you would like to have a no-obligations, quick look at Cura, please contact us on 020 3621 9111or email at info@cura.systems for an on-line demo. 

CQC State Of Care 2021 12Dec, 2022
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CQC State of Care Annual Report 2021/2022

The CQC (Care Quality Commission) State of Care report presents the insights, trends and themes from inspection activity findings, information from the public and those who deliver care, and other evidence.

The main message is that the health and care system is ‘gridlocked and unable to operate effectively’, which means people are stuck – services are finding it very difficult to get and keep the right number of staff with the right skills to meet people’s needs.

Now more than ever, staff shortages and high vacancy rates are significantly impacting the quality of care. Care homes are short staffed, care givers feel burnout and managers suffer the administrative burden of bridging the growing gaps.

Cura empowers the care workforce in complex care settings

The challenge of how staffing levels can be optimised has never been more critical. Having an appropriate care management system in place is crucial not only to service users’ safety; it also plays a vital role in ensuring the right information and other critical data are on hand to enable planning for the right people in the right places.

A specialised digital system like Cura can improve the efficiency of care and help move away from reactive to proactive approaches. Cura’s aim is to empower the carer, freeing them from tedious paperwork to focus on service users and to ensure that every action is recorded and compliant with the CQC regulations.

Cura Roster, in conjunction with Cura Angel enables flawless scheduling of staff; Cura Angel is a mobile based care app that allows care staff to see and confirm their shifts and other updates, etc. The module comprises a user-friendly interface, including “drag and drop” and alternative planning views to provide a simple way to allocate suitable staff to shifts and evidence staffing compliance.

Here are some of the new features in Cura:

  • Enable delegation of rota management
  • Broadcast vacant shifts
  • Simplify Scheduling – create rotas with a few clicks, by location
  • Avoid over/under staffing due to scheduling conflicts and fill empty shifts
  • Drag and drop shift allocations
  • Better visibility of caregiver workload using colour-coded shifts
  • Clock In’ functionality to show location sensitive attendance
  • GPS/Facial recognition support for attendance evidencing

In a recent statement, Kate Terroni, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, Integrated Care and Interim Chief Operating Officer, said:

“In this report, we’ve highlighted examples of local innovation – joining up these pockets of innovation has the potential to help unblock the gridlock. However, this can only happen in conjunction with a real focus on planning, investment, and workforce.” Read more…

The time is now to invest in a digital workforce system! Given the complex nature of caregiving and its changing demands, the need for digitally driven care is vital to strengthen the workforce; increase staff retention, identify skills gaps, savings in time and cost, boost productivity and ultimately improve outcomes.

Cura Systems are equipped with a rich set of tools and features, and we are committed to bringing further innovations to benefit all involved in the provision of care. Cura is ready to support every home and ready to make a positive change to care delivery.

Technology is clearly pushing the boundary towards better care and Cura Systems is proud to be at the forefront of this change. We provide care homes providing complex care needs with the secure tools and support to achieve and evidence their CQC compliance and delivery of best of breed care.

If you are not yet using Cura within your care setting, it’s a good time to go paperless and reap significant benefits. Find out what you’re missing, contact us on 020 3621 9111 to see the most feature rich care home software in the market today.

Nurse with Senior Resident, Electronic Care Plans for Care Homes 12Jul, 2022
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Cura makes complex care more manageable

The onset of Covid has brought about a greater reliance on digital tools and care providers have had to adopt new technology to ensure continuity of care. This is further exacerbated by pressure from Social Care authorities to adopt digital records as a high priority.

A care system that encourages and enables improved communication, better allocation of resources, real-time access to a full set of care data and greater access to resident’s information will benefit everyone involved in all aspects of care and administration.

Cura: Your the Complete Solution for Managing Complex Care Situations

Cura takes the management of complex care to a whole new level. It leads to a higher degree of service user satisfaction and plays a significant role in delivering safer care and improvement in care outcomes.

Cura is a specialised digital care home software designed for complex care situations. Cura can make a significant difference, for example, monitoring service users’ conditions accurately and in real-time by using customisable assessments and truly person-centred care plans, specifically designed for those providing care to service users with severe dementia, challenging behaviour, mental health, palliative care, long-term chronic illnesses and those with autism and/or learning difficulties. Cura also provides a sophisticated, highly developed incident reporting tool designed to facilitate accurate and timely records of even the most severe incidents in a simple guided way. Tools are available to highlight events, persons, times of day and locations that increase the risk of incident occurrence.

"Cura incident reporting really is a great tool and will make a huge difference to the people we support. The ease we have of reviewing the incidents as they are logged and the central monitoring will only enhance our ability to analyse and resolve the issues we see. I look forward to seeing how we can develop even more with Cura by our side." - Anthony Birmingham Service Manager, Positive Individual Proactive Support.

Click to find out more: PIPS Case Study 

Cura has clearly established itself as a market leader in digital transformation specialising in complex care settings. In fact, a large majority of Cura customers are focused on complex care and have gained the best value from their investment.

Some of the most popular features in Cura used by our Complex Care Providers

  • User definable care plan structures to provide for intricate care plans and care planning processes definable to support PBS
  • Flexible, highly detailed when required, note recording, tying in with care plans providing the right information at the right time and in the right place. Cura uses multiple data entry methods to enable rapid note completion.
  • Detailed, configurable incident/accident & restraint recording and reporting, either user defined or using standard tools such as Price
  • Meal planner – caregivers help service users choose their meals based on their dietary requirements and restrictions such as allergens.
  • Fluids chart - Inadequate fluid intake is a major contributor to risks. You can set individual intake targets and record all outputs per service user.
  • Auditable bed turning, night visits, incident report and wound management modules – Can be linked to automatically feed into caregivers' daily activities lists and ensure such essential functions are performed on a timely basis.
  • Drag and drop form builder – allows user to create truly customisable and personalised forms
  •  …and a lot more!

Cura means Care…. bringing you peace of mind and confidence when managing the health and well-being of service users while delivering person centred care and long-term support. Providing complex care requires a high level of support and a fully integrated care management system such as Cura will truly match such demanding needs.

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