Improving quality, CQC ratings, and reducing falls simply by optimising existing Nurse Call systems

Improving quality, CQC ratings, and reducing falls simply by optimising existing Nurse Call systems

Nurse call systems are critical to care home residents to call for assistance or attention, yet many care homes lack the ability to measure just how effective they are.  Often in the corner of a manager’s office, a machine sits and beeps recording requests but doesn’t offer user friendly information which care provides can utilise to enhance their services and respond sooner.

The CQC require care provider to continually improve their services, they want providers to use data to make improvements, enhancements, and to create action plans on how they will enhance services and deliver higher quality care capable of increasing quality ratings.

It is undeniable that responding to falls sooner improves quality of care, can reduce falls, improve quality ratings and create efficiencies in the process.

Care England is working with Ascom to understand how legacy Nurse Call systems can help care providers to enhance their services which is exactly what member Majesticare Cavendish Park achieved.

Ascom utilised the Majesticare legacy Nurse Call system to enhance the care home’s responsiveness, enabling carers to attend to residents’ needs sooner. By linking software with hardware, alerts are triggered in real-time, directly to the care team’s handheld devices, allowing them to prioritise tasks effectively, respond sooner, and improving the quality of care, whilst reducing the risk associated with a delayed response.

Over the past year, Cavendish Park has utilised the Ascom solution to improve operational efficiency, ensuring the highest standard of care while building trust with residents’ families.

Review the report here.

Key features of the Ascom response management solution:

• Real-time alerts
• Task prioritisation
• Enhanced monitoring and reporting of emergency calls

A common issue for care providers is demonstrating their responsiveness to resident needs from less agile Nurse Call systems. Now, with the system in place, Majesticare staff can respond to calls efficiently thanks to alerts sent directly to the Myco4 smartphones carried by the team, as well as to a central station in the care office. The integration allows for improved monitoring and faster prioritisation of emergency calls, significantly reducing response times without the need to purchase a new Nurse Call system.

Notable results achieved by Majesticare post Ascom implementation:

• Response times to non-emergency calls improved from 62% to 72% within five minutes.
• Response times to emergency calls improved from 71% to 87% within two minutes.
• Average response to 75% of non-emergency calls 3 minutes and 49 seconds faster

The results demonstrate the transformative impact of the Ascom response management solution on care delivery. The solution not only optimises call handling but also enhances mobile communication and collaboration tools for care staff.

Supporting Impact:

The software goes beyond merely managing calls—it captures and analyses clinical and operational data for continuous improvements. Keeping the system updated ensures smooth, efficient response management. Additionally, the solution provides peace of mind to resident families due to enhanced response times, fostering transparency and trust.

Conclusion:

By streamlining assistance requests, the solution allows care teams to focus more on delivering high-quality care. Prioritising calls effectively ensuring that carers can respond swiftly, particularly in emergencies, thereby helping to reduce the risk of accidents or falls a delayed response may lead to, whilst overall enhancing operational excellence.

Majesticare’s commitment to integrating cutting-edge technology exemplifies their dedication to enhancing resident care. Cavendish Park has set a new standard by trialling the Ascom response management solution, which has revolutionised how calls are handled, significantly boosting efficiency and the quality of care provided.

For further information or inquiries about this initiative, please contact: Stephen Cavanagh, stephen.cavanagh@ascom.com, 0121 353 6151