#HealthPlusCare: Cura Systems reflections and next steps

#HealthPlusCare: Cura Systems reflections and next steps

This year’s Health Plus Care show did not disappoint. Last week was by far the best large format, health and social care conference Cura have ever had the pleasure to attend.

It was uplifting to be highlighted and chosen as a MUST SEE show exhibitor. Our discussion on how times are changing in care and GDPR compliant care technology created a buzz and had high and notable engagement. Not to mention, the artificially intelligent Cura Cat causing the puuuuuurfect attraction to the Cura stand for the likes of Vic Rayner of the National Care Forum and Sharon Allen from Skills for Care.

We were excited to see technology was high on all attendees’ agendas and with most of the speakers throughout the two days referencing how providers need to embrace technology to advance care.

The AI Cura Cat, for instance, is currently being used by many care homes such as Barchester Healthcare and has provided notably positive results for the residents’ wellbeing and quality of life.

Technology is always developing, Cura’s road map is evolving in line with the market and our customer’s needs. The message seems to finally be landing, digital transformation is not about purely process. It is about getting the cultures and attitudes in place at all levels to make technology work. Every person in health and care has a responsibility to make sure proper change is created.

We need a wider range of voices and a diverse insight into how the change is experienced. This is why Cura Systems are hosting customer and prospect roadshows in September throughout the UK. If you would like to attend or more information please contact us. (hyperlink to contact us page)

If you missed the Cura AI Cat (and of course a demo of Cura) don’t worry, we will be making more appearances during the Caring UK events. (hyperlink http://www.caringukconferences.co.uk/events/ ) And if you just cannot wait that long you might consider booking a free Cura demo (hyperlink to book a demo) and/or puuuuuuurchasing a Cura Cat yourself? (hyperlink to https://joyforall.com/products/companion-cats )

#embracetechnology #CareTech #CareDiscussion

Cura Systems, CQC Compliance 12Jun, 2018
How technology assists in meeting CQC standards

Findings from the CQC’s initial programme of comprehensive inspections in adult social care published as ‘The state of adult social care services 2014 to 2017’ showed what the sector can learn. A key theme that shone through in terms of high-quality services was a clear focus on person-centred care. Staffs really get to know people as people, understanding their interests, likes and dislikes. Always bearing in the forefront of their mind, would I want this for my Mum?

Andrea Sutcliffe, chief inspector of adult social care for the CQC has continually urged health and social care providers to embrace innovative digital technologies to improve care delivery.

Although the CQC’s previous response to the adoption of technology during an inspection was down to that inspector’s personal views, they have made visionary moves in the recent revamp of the KLOEs to ensure care technology use is consistently reported on.

CQC Compliance: 5 Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOE)

If all care providers were transparent enough to give the CQC inspectors their own login access to their care agency systems they could (subject to appropriate consents) carry out a preview that will shorten their review time and lead to a better outcome for the provider.

After reviewing the evolved key lines of enquiry, prompts and ratings characteristics for adult social care services in depth it is undeniable that care management technology features will support your quest for CQC compliance.

Friends and family members also love that with some of the care management system and mobile care monitoring applications they can send old photos of the resident through so the care workers can talk about their past life experiences, as well as reviewing the residents care plans as frequently as they wish. They can upload photos to keep their loved one informed of recent happenings to keep them involved.

Several of the new KLOE prompts even explicitly mention the use of effective technology. If you do not yet use technology within your care setting it’s worth considering embracing it. Even if you do have technology in place are you utilising it to its best? We would suggest booking in a meeting with your account manager to make sure you are getting the most and using all the modules effectively.

Any care management software you chose should have many modules that will comprehensively evidence that your care home is run safely and that the service responds immediately, as well as giving your residents choice.

CQC RESPONSIVE 1.6: How is technology used to support people to receive timely care and support? Is the technology (including telephone systems, call systems and online/digital services) easy to use?
When set up correctly and consistently to your brand of care – your system will alert you when your care delivery is falling behind and offer instant prompts for staff to remind them what personal preferences and background the resident has and how to do certain tasks safely and correctly.

EFFECTIVE 1.3: How is technology and equipment used to enhance the delivery of effective care and support, and to promote people’s independence?

Some care technology will allow you to build electronic care plans together with the resident. They are able to choose what activities they would like to do and what goals and outcomes they want to work towards and achieve. People are continually changing their tastes and nutritional needs and some systems cannot only help you plan meals with residents but also report on patterns and highlight allergies. If there are any conflicts from the medication administration module with food or drink this will also be flagged up.

WELL-LED 4.6: Are information technology systems used effectively to monitor and improve the quality of care?

WELL-LED 2.8: How does the service assure itself that it has robust arrangements (including appropriate internal and external validation) to ensure the security, availability, sharing and integrity of confidential data, and records and data management systems, in line with data security standards? Are lessons learned when there are data security breaches?

Cura is leading the way with an innovative NEWS (National Early Warning Signs) score feature where critical actions are predicted, alerted and monitored. No other care system in the marketing currently has this functionality. Cura is also the first care management software to be fully GDPR compliant in line with the IG toolkit to ensure all the personal data you have on residents and staff is safe from malicious threat.

Everyone wants to be validated with an outstanding certification for all the effort and compassion put into creating and consistently delivering a person-centred care operation. After reviewing the KLOEs in some depth here are the take always to achieve outstanding for each line of investigation.

To achieve outstanding for CQC SAFE

There is a comprehensive ‘safety management system’. Innovation is encouraged to achieve sustained improvements in safety and continual reductions in harm. The service actively seeks out new technology and other solutions to make sure that people live with as few restrictions as possible. The service deals with issues of poor performance immediately and ensures staffs are supported to improve.

To achieve outstanding for CQC EFFECTIVE:

 People are fully involved and help to plan their meals with staff, taking nutritional advice into account. Staffs are aware of people’s individual preferences and patterns of eating and drinking and there is flexibility when needed or requested.

To achieve outstanding for CQC CARING: 

There is a strong, visible person-centred culture. The service ensures that staffs focus on building and maintaining open and honest relationships with people and their families, friends and other carers. There are creative ways of reflecting people’s personal histories and cultural backgrounds and the staffs are matched with people’s interests and personalities.

To achieve outstanding for CQC RESPONSIVE: 

The service has an innovative approach to using technology. People are involved in decisions about how it is or could be used. There is a rapid response to people’s changing care needs and advice on care and support for people and carers at the times they need. Staff use innovative and individual ways of involving people and their family, friends and other carers in their care and support plans, so that they feel consulted, empowered, listened to and valued.

To achieve outstanding for CQC WELL-LED: 

There is a rapid response to people’s changing care needs and advice on care and support for people and carers at the times they need. There is a strong framework of accountability to monitor performance and risk leading to the delivery of demonstrable quality improvements to the service.

Technology is clearly pushing the boundary towards better care and Cura System’s is proud to be at the forefront of this change.

We provide care homes with the comprehensive care management software, secure tools and support to achieve and evidence their CQC compliance and delivery of best of breed care.

We recommend you have a strategy meeting with everyone in your team to fully understand what they want from a care planning system. Create a wish list and do your research, Cura Systems employees have worked for many care planning system over the years and know many of the potential pitfalls, we can give you an unbiased check sheet to get you started. Just give us a call and reference this article. Our best advice is to see at least 3 care home software and have an actual trial and a play with it. If someone is trying to sell you a system from a PowerPoint presentation it usually means that part of the systems doesn’t work well or is merely just a concept.

GDPR for care home, Compliance Software 15Jan, 2018
GDPR? What is it and what does it mean to your care organisation

Put May 25, 2018 in your diary as a significant date. This is when the Data Protection Act 1998 will be replaced by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

All personal information your care home has needs to be protected and handled in line with GDPR.

Personal information, in the GDPR context, is information that can identify living individuals (either on its own or on conjunction with other information already available).

GDPR Readiness

Some examples below:

  • Name
  • DOB
  • Address
  • Gender
  • NHS number
  • Occupation

All organisations who deal with special categories of personal data will have to comply with GDPR. Special categories of personal data can include the below:

  • Health information
  • Information relating to race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation

To comply with GDPR, you will need to ensure that personal information is:

  1. Processed fairly, lawfully, and in a transparent manner
  2. Collected for specified, limited purposes
  3. Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary
  4. Accurate and kept up-to-date
  5. Kept in a form which permits identification for as long as necessary and no longer
  6. Processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security

Points to consider:

Legal Basis and Consent

  • Under GDPR, if your legal basis for collecting and sharing personal information is consent, then that consent needs to be informed, explicit, and recorded. You will only be able to use the information for the consented purpose, and any further use will require further consent. Can you currently evidence this?
  • There are other legal alternatives for collecting, using and sharing personal and special category data that may be more appropriate than consent, such as it’s in the vital interest (life or death) of the individual concerned. Are you aware of all of these?
  • You will need to document the legal basis for all personal information your organisation utilises.

Data Quality

  • Do you have data quality controls in place to ensure your information is accurate and up-to-date?

Retention Periods

  • Are you aware of retention periods relating to all information types so you are compliant with GDPR? You will need to document this under GDPR.

Information Security

  • Care home providers could be exposed if they are using paper or archaic care systems that are not designed with the latest standards of encryption and secure access
  • Under GDPR, you will be responsible for ensuring any contracted third-parties do not compromise your compliance with GDPR. Can you be certain that your system providers meet the GDPR requirements?
  • Do you hold personal data on external hard drives or USBs? What are your security controls for these mobile devices?
  • Do you have access and audit controls in place to ensure only authorised staff are seeing sensitive information?

Subject Access Requests

  • Both staff and residents can request to see what information you hold on them (a subject access request). Under GDPR, the timeframe for legally responding to these is changing, as is the ability to apply a fee. Have you updated your processes to reflect these changes? Are all staff and residents aware of this right?
  • Can you access your information quickly to comply with these requests? Do you know where all your information is stored?

Dependant on how you have answered the above, your care home may not be compliant with the new GDPR regulations.

Want to know more information on GDPR? Follow this link for the Information Commissioner Office 12 step guide to becoming compliant.

Cura Systems can help!

Don’t panic, there is an easy way to becoming compliant with GDPR. That is to utilise a company that understands data protection legislation on special categories of personal data and is committed to supporting other organisations in being compliant with GDPR.

Cura Systems offer intelligent and modern care planning system, medication management, staff planning, mobile care monitoring, notes, electronic care plans, and time and attendance monitoring software.

Using Cura will provide you with some reassurance that your information is secure and quickly accessed when needed, but only accessible to authorised individuals. Cura does this, and more, for care companies while also empowering them to utilise their information in a way that makes their information more useful to increase service efficiency and enable them to achieve to golden care and management standards.

Give your care home the competitive advantage, talk to the Cura Systems team today. Email info@cura.systems or call us on 020 3621 9111.

We are committed to executing a robust data protection strategy to ensure Cura Systems’s electronic care management  is compliant with GDPR and other data protection legal requirements

Data Protection, GDPR Awareness 9Jan, 2018
Cura is committed to executing a robust data protection strategy

We are committed to executing a robust data protection strategy to ensure cura systems complex care management software is compliant with gdpr and other data protection legal requirements.

Data Protection Compliance

We have recruited a Data Compliance and Security Officer, Jessica Hiscock, on a full time basis to inform and advise Cura Systems and our employees about our obligations to comply with the GDPR and other data protection laws. More importantly, to provide us with the means to do so through the task of producing and implementing relevant policies and procedure, as well as spreading awareness and knowledge through training.

Ensuring Robust Data Protection with Jessica Hiscock as Data Compliance Officer

Jess previously worked within the Data Protection and Confidentiality Department at Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, covering both Information Governance and Information Security remits. She was the department’s lead trainer to over 16,000 staff (as well as additional voluntary staff, students, and contracted employees), the lead auditor on data protection compliance across the whole Health Board, and the first point of contact for any queries.

She will monitor and audit Cura Systems compliance with GDPR and other data protection laws and advise on any identified information risks. Her role is primarily a preventative-focused one where, instead of waiting for a data breach to occur, she is instead tasked with anticipating threats to information and actively working to prevent them from having real-world negative impacts. Jess is also here to support disaster recovery and business continuity management to ensure that any incidents are appropriately managed to reduce harm to Cura Systems and its data subjects.

Susuana Ocansey, our National Delivery Manager and her team will be your first point of contact for any queries (internal or external) regarding the data we process and will ensure that individuals are aware of their rights regarding the information we hold about them.

Contact the Cura Support team for more information, call 020 3621 9117 or email support.cura@cura.systems.

Cura Support, Care Software Implementation 27Nov, 2017
To serve our customers better, we begin with our employees

Just as Cura continually evolve with best of breed technology and functionality so must our staff and processes.

Care Software Implementation

To this end, we have restructured our training and implementation team to better serve our growing list of customers. We have appointed a Client Solutions Specialist with deep domain knowledge of care homes and how they operate and reporting to our recently appointed National Service Delivery Manager. Read More

Cura Systems, CQC KLOE Caring 13Oct, 2017
Cura Systems response to the CQC State of Care report

This year’s State of Care report shows the quality of health and social care has been maintained, despite very real challenges, the majority of people are getting good care. But future quality is precarious at best, as the system struggles with complex new types of care demand and needs, access and cost.

CQC State of Annual Report in Health Care

The Care Quality Commission’s annual assessment of the quality of health and social care in England contains much that is encouraging. As of 31 July 2017, 78% of adult social care services were rated good (71% were rated good at 31 July 2016) but it continually echoed this was due to tireless efforts of care leaders and staff and noted the continuing risk of a ‘tipping point’. It is crucial that we do something before service deterioration outpaces the capacity for service improvement.

Professor Martin Green, OBE, Chief Executive of Care England highlighted, “There is a lot of uncertainty in the sector and by dragging its heels, and Government simply cannot abdicate responsibility for those in need of care.”

Read More

Cura System, Microsoft Gold Competency 3Aug, 2017
Cura Systems Achieves a Microsoft Gold Application Development Competency

Cura Systems demonstrates best-in-class capability and market leadership through demonstrated technology success and customer commitment.

Microsoft Gold Application Development Competency

The Microsoft Gold Competency distinguishes Cura Systems within the top 1% of Microsoft’s partner ecosystem, which is made up of 640,000 partners worldwide.

“Becoming a Microsoft Gold Application Development competency partner showcases our expertise and our commitment to the residential care technology market. It also demonstrates our deep knowledge of Microsoft and its products, which enables us to be technology advisors for our customer’s, able to meet their evolving business needs.” – Charmaine Chong, Managing Director

Read More

Cura Systems, Care Safety System 26Jul, 2017
Prevention is better than any cure

We know things go wrong when least expected. Even when all the right procedures are in place how can you be 100% sure they have been properly applied? Cura can be used as an alert aid with its electronic care plans. 

Ensuring Health and Safety with Cura’s Electronic Care Plans

Cura is a comprehensive care planning system, staff scheduling, medication management, electronic care plans, hand-over notes, mobile care monitoring, and time and attendance tracking. 

Read More

13Jul, 2017
Transforming the State of Social Care

Enhance your care home’s CQC inspection rating with Cura Systems’ care management solutions. Ensure safety, effectiveness, and more.

The CQC has recently released their report on the State of Social Care in the UK, which highlights:

  • The majority of care providers at 77% are providing a Good level of service
  • Only 2% of care services being rated achieve an Outstanding certification.
  • 2% of care services are currently rated as Inadequate, and 19% of services are rated as Requires Improvement. That equates to 21%, over a fifth of the entire market is offering below standard delivery of care.

CQC Inspection Criteria

Too many services are not improving or seem incapable of improving. 38% retain their rating of requires improvement following re-inspection, despite knowing from CQC inspections what needs to change and 5% of these services had deteriorated. Community social care services such as domiciliary care, supported living and shared lives were rated the best overall whilst nursing homes remain the biggest concern. Poor medicine management system was highlighted as a key factor including poor administration, lack of knowledge, poor record keeping, lack of audits and incorrect storage.

These figures and findings will undermine the public’s confidence in the sector as a whole – a sector that we are becoming increasingly reliant on as our population ages and people’s needs at all ages become more complex.

So how do we move forward? How do we improve and develop care delivery to achieve that elusive OUTSTANDING certification?

Cura Systems offers you the care home management solution. Keep a transparent, easy to access audit trail of all your record keeping, Provide your care workers with the tools they need to know how to complete their tasks at the point of care delivery and ensure medicines are managed correctly.

Cura also helps you capture incident evidence and create meaningful bespoke management dashboard reporting. In the eyes of the CQC, if you didn’t record it, it didn’t happen.

How Cura helps you to meet the CQC’s inspection criteria:

  • Safety –With the Cura medication module, drug rounds can be tracked throughout your care home as they happen, with automated mishap prevention mechanisms.
  • EffectivenessAccess to your residents’ personal and medical records using electronic care plans at the point of care allows the most efficient and personalised care to be delivered.
  • Caring – Reducing the amount of time required on paperwork and administration, we can help you spend more time with your residents, armed with the appropriate knowledge of the service user and individualised care plans… even if the care provider is new to the service user. Cura care planning system helps to provide the evidence that the resident is at the centre of all decision making.
  • Responsiveness – Set reminders for your care team to review electronic care plans to ensure that they are always kept up-to-date and be instantly alerted if there are any issues with your residents’ health or safeguarding. Evidence that residents and families are involved in how they wish care and support to be delivered.
  • Well-led – Your care workers will feel well supported by the management team. Tracking of training, improved communication through our Discussion module, better rota scheduling and other features will greatly improve leadership capability and service delivery.

Prove you are OUTSTANDING. We provide care homes with the tools and support to improve your CQC rating.

Contact the Cura Systems team today. info@cura.systems. 020 3621 9111.

Cura Systems, Health Plus Care 2018 16Jun, 2017
Is your care company looking to strengthen data recording and management?

Is your care company looking to strengthen data recording and management, improve communication and care outcomes at the point-of-care delivery?

Meet Cura Systems at Health Plus Care to Enhance Care Outcomes

Health plus Care is Europe’s largest integrated health and social care event designed to build relationships between care providers and suppliers.

Come & meet us! As a key technology supplier to the health and social care market, Cura Systems will be available on stand D28 to talk about all of our latest innovations for best of breed care home management system, including Cura Kin and Cura Angel.

Is your care company looking to strengthen data recording and management, improve communication and care outcomes at the point-of-care delivery?

If the answer is yes, come and meet Alistair Mann and John Rowley from the Cura Systems team at our exhibition booth D28 so we can show you how we can support you to deliver outstanding care.

Care Outcomes at the Point-of-care Delivery

Cura Systems have developed the most comprehensive care home management system for your care home.

We offer intelligent and modern care planning system, medication management, staff planning, electronic care plans, notes, mobile care monitoring and time and attendance tracking monitoring software.

The Health Plus Care event attracts more than 10,000 senior health and social care professionals.

If you’d like to chat with us before the event, get in touch at info@cura.systems or call 020 3621 9111.