July 2015
incorporating
no.229 • £4.75
The Number One magazine for the care sector
Technology is pioneered by care provider By Olivia Taylor FOUR Seasons Health Care is pioneering the use of technology to collect immediate feedback about care so it can find and fix issues quickly and give residents the experience they want. Its new “Quality of Life Programme” is unique among major care providers. Purpose designed software systems are accessed via iPads that are being put into all of its 350 homes, so at any time residents, their families and visiting health professionals can tell the company what they think about any aspect of the services they receive. The iPads are programmed with a touch screen satisfaction questionnaire together with space for additional comment. It is easy and convenient and takes just a couple of minutes to provide feedback. The information is transmitted in real time to the home manager and regional manager for immediate review to find and fix any issues or consider suggestions for improvements. Each home will have an iPad in reception for use by visitors and another available to residents and staff. Tim Hammond, chief executive,
said: “Being able to understand our residents’ experience on a day to day basis enables us to fix any niggles quickly and to do more of what they like, so they feel more at home and enjoy a better experience living with us. “In the restaurant sector, where I previously worked, they drive standards by getting regular live feedback from customers. But in the care sector all that we have had traditionally is a paper survey, perhaps no more than annually and with limited participation and a slow turnaround. “It is not a good way to understand and respond to the needs of residents and relatives. By contrast in just over three months of our programme roll-out to just the first 100 homes, we have acted on comments from well over 1,000 residents. I am encouraged that we also have been consistently recording satisfaction ratings from residents averaging circa 94 per cent.” As a further element of its Quality of Life Programme Four Seasons has introduced a new Thematic Resident Care Audit (“TRaCA”) which home managers can complete electronically. This is also designed to support the “find and fix” approach.
Resident publishes new book of poems
The Duke of Cambridge praised the 1,500 guests at Jewish Care’s 25th anniversary annual campaign dinner for their role in supporting older and vulnerable members of the community, commenting: “The results of your commitment to one another within the Jewish community are obvious – the real and loving care that thousands of elderly and vulnerable people receive, among the many works that you carry out.” Before delivering his speech William spent time meeting Jewish Care clients, staff, volunteers and supporters. Crouching down to her wheelchair, he also chatted to 101-year-old Dolly Conway, a resident at Jewish Care’s Rosetrees care home.
JEAN Chesterman, a resident at Care UK’s Kingsfield care home, has published a new book of poems for children under her pseudonym of Jean Kenward. Roundabout is the latest work in a writing career that spans nine decades, more than 18 books and over 250 poetry anthologies. But Jean is perhaps best known for her creation, Ragdolly Anna, which was made into a children’s TV series in the 1980s. Although Jean has written poems, books and articles for adults, she’s mainly a children’s author. “I’ve always felt an affinity for children and for the wonder that they have about the world and the joy they feel,” Jean explained. Money raised from the sales of Roundabout will go to the Jonny Rhythm Foundation, a charity set up in memory of Jean’s friend and artistic collaborator Barbara Sedassy’s child who died from colon cancer at the age of 33, and who Jean knew from boyhood.