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How technology can help meet key lines of enquiry

Technology in care has become increasingly important, transforming the way in which care is delivered and the use of digital care systems has resulted in many people experiencing better and safer care, says John Rowley, senior sales manager at Cura Systems.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) annual assessment of the state of health and social care in England shows how providers are working together more effectively – often using technology – to help ensure people get the care they need, when they need it.1 The report has highlighted how the innovative use of technology can help address the five key lines of enquiry (KLOE) and supports the use of technology to improve the delivery of quality care. Every care home wants to be validated with an outstanding certification for all the effort put in to creating and consistently delivering person-centred care, but what makes an outstanding care home? This article will consider ways to achieve an outstanding rating for each line of investigation.

How Technology Supports CQC’s Definition of “Safe” Care

Is your service safe?

An outstanding care home must be safe. The CQC defines ‘safe’ as meaning that people are protected from abuse and avoidable harm. When the time comes for a loved one to move into a care home, it is only natural that the first and overriding concern will be for their safety. Entrusting a mum, dad, husband or wife to the care of strangers pushes against natural instincts to do all that we can to protect and provide for them ourselves.

Choosing the right care home is one of the biggest and most difficult decisions to make and safety will figure very prominently in selecting one. Care homes need to have appropriate tools to demonstrate to relatives of prospective residents their ability to monitor safety. Recognising these concerns, the first question asked by the CQC is always about safety.

In this instance, safe means taking every possible step to ensure that residents are protected from abuse and avoidable harm. Abuse can be physical, sexual, mental or psychological or financial, involving neglect or institutional or discriminatory abuse.

Avoidable harm will consider everything from medicines management to the safe use of facilities and equipment. CQC scrutiny is robust to ensure that all these conditions are met and inspection reports provide families and loved ones with the information they need regarding the ability of a home to meet these conditions consistently.

Aspects of ‘safe’ that directly relate to the use of technology include:

staff are skilled and well equipped with all the information and tools required to provide outstanding care and protection from any safeguarding and compliance issues
detailed records of incident reports to protect from being bullied, harassed, harmed, neglected or abused
incident report trigger to deal with quickly and openly monitor incidents and accidents and a care app that instantly sends reminders and reports incidents to ensure everyone is aware and corrective action is taken
assessment forms to monitor medical conditions providing peace of mind with customised assessments and care plans, medication reminders and tracking
monitoring drug rounds throughout the home, including reminders for those administering medicines and alerts for when rounds have not been completed; drug rounds can be tracked as they happen, with automated mishap prevention mechanisms
timely preparation and review of health and safety checklist specific to each resident as well as for general facilities; the home should be kept clean and hygienic to prevent any risk of infection to residents and visitors.

Electronic care plans and mobile monitoring care apps can play a significant role in supporting care home managers to meet and exceed CQC standards.

Cura recognises the critical importance of safety in care. Cura’s suite of applications supports care staff by giving them the information they need to ensure that they meet CQC’s criteria, including the safe delivery of care.

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Effective care gives care home residents and their loved ones peace of mind…and that’s official!

Delivering Effective Care: A Top CQC Priority

An outstanding care home must be effective, one of the CQC’s five key lines of enquiry. In the second of our new series, we look at how care home owners and key decision makers can ensure they meet the CQC’s criteria.
CQC’s defines effective to mean that people’s care, treatment and support achieves good outcomes, promotes a good quality of life and based on the best available evidence

Finding out what a good care home looks like helps families make choices about the care of their loved ones. It can also help them understand what they should expect from a service provider.

CQC KLOE EFFECTIVE

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the body responsible making sure that residential care homes meet the highest standards of care. One of the questions the CQC asks is how effective a home is. What does this mean in practice?

A critical concern is that staff must have the right knowledge, qualifications and skills to carry out their roles, enabling residents to have a good quality of life. They should always ask for a resident’s permission to give care, treatment and support in a way that is easy to understand. Family and friends should also be involved in decisions about care, where appropriate.

Staff should know about each resident’s health needs and personal preferences, and give them as much choice and control as possible. Staff should also work with health and social care professionals, such as GPs, and take the right action at the right time to maintain good health.

The CQC gives the highest priority to nutritional needs, and one crucial measure of an effective care home is that staff make sure residents get the right food and drink they need.

Residents should also expect to be asked for their likes and needs when the home is adapted or decorated. Any changes to the home should be made to help residents to be as independent as possible.

Cura means care, and we are committed to supporting owners and managers to deliver outstanding care. We help care homes with the most demanding needs to deliver better quality outcomes by automating more daily tasks for management and caregivers than any other care home software.

CQC also looks at how technology is used to make the service more effective and our suite of applications supports care staff by giving them the information they need to ensure that they meet CQC’s criteria for the effective running of their care home. Electronic records for care homes and mobile care apps support care home managers to meet and exceed CQC standards. Our intuitive home care system deliver real benefits to everyone connected to the home.

We hope you enjoyed this article. For more insights on what makes an outstanding care home as recognised by the CQC, be sure to visit the KLOE Caring blog. Stay tuned for more informative articles!

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Putting safety at the centre of all decisions about the care of your loved ones

What Makes a “Safe” Care Home?

Safety is at the heart of CQC’s five key lines of enquiry. In the first of a new series we look at the importance of the first standard: SAFETY

When the time comes for a loved one to move to a care home it is only natural that the first and overriding concern will be for their safety. Entrusting a mum, dad, husband or wife to the care of strangers pushes against natural instincts to do all that we can to protect and provide for them ourselves.

Choosing the right care home is one of the biggest and most difficult decisions to be made and safety will figure very prominently in the selection of a care home. Care homes need to have appropriate tools to demonstrate to relatives of prospective service users their ability to monitor safety.

Also, recognising these concerns, the first question asked by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is always about safety. CQC also expects care homes to be effective, caring, responsive and well-led. But its first key line of enquiry concerns safety.

CQC KLOE SAFE

‘Safe’, in this instance, means taking every possible step to ensure that residents are protected from abuse and avoidable harm. Abuse can be physical, sexual, mental or psychological, financial, neglect, institutional or discriminatory abuse.

Avoidable harm will consider everything from medicines management to safe use of facilities and equipment. CQC scrutiny is robust to ensure that all these conditions are met. CQC inspection reports give families and loved ones the information they need regarding a home’s ability to meet these conditions consistently.

Electronic care plans for care homes and mobile care monitoring can play a significant role in supporting care home managers to meet and exceed CQC standards.

Cura also recognises the critical importance of safety in care. Our comprehensive care management systems deliver real benefits to everyone connected to the home. Cura’s suite of applications supports care staff by giving them the information they need to ensure that they meet CQC’s criteria, including the safe delivery of care.

We hope you enjoyed this article. Look out for further articles here on what makes an outstanding care home as recognised by the CQC.