Halloween is almost here, and with it comes thoughts of spooky skeletons and scary spiders… but hopefully not awful admin and petrifying planning. Running a care home is a complex, multi-layered task and one that keeps managers on their toes. However, thanks to advances in technology and digital planning tools, the seemingly endless admin and paperwork can be done in less time and with less manual effort required than ever before.
Here are six ways in which switching to a digital care home management system can help you turn your admin into less of a trick and more of a treat this Halloween.
Dear diary
Now that we all have smartphones glued to our sides, the concept of keeping as paper diary is rapidly fading away. However, the basic diary and calendar functions installed on your smartphone cannot contain every single diary entry, reminder, to-do list and meeting agenda that you need to run your care home and its staff. Neither can it automatically connect to your colleagues and share important reminders, care notes and other resources needed for you all to do your jobs. Care Vision’s diary and planning tools can do all of this and more, ensuring that you can set reminders, share files and updates and run your diary from anywhere, 24/7 using the secure, confidential app.
Safety first
Speaking of confidentiality, you can also avoid scary data breaches and terrifying identity scams by using the secure, cloud-based digital software offered by Care Vision. Personal details of residents, families and care home staff can be kept safe and GDPR compliant. Medical records can be protected too, and only made available to those who need to access them in order to support your residents and their needs. Even features such as the electronic visitors book help keep you and your care home community safe, by keeping an accurate log of who is on the premises and why – and the exact times they leave.
Communication and collaboration
A lot of admin revolves around the ability to communicate information, check details with other people and provide timely updates and responses to issues and emergencies. Care Vision offers seamless collaborative working with the ability to share files, grant different levels of access to different members of staff and send out reminders and alerts across the whole system. In this world of 24/7 communications, no-one need fear the prospect of being left out of the loop. A neat trick, just in time for Halloween…
Staff planning, training and needs
Alongside the carer management tools, Care Vision operates a suite of support functions specifically for staff and their effective management. From payroll and HR tools to rota planning and clocking on software, employees’ admin needs can all be met in one place. You can identify training gaps and plan how to fill them, as well as keep track of staff sickness, holidays and annual leave requests. Feedback tools allow staff to let you know their thoughts and requests too without having to contact you separately or leave confidential letters and reports lying around.
Events and activities
Are you planning anything fun for Halloween? A scary movie night perhaps, or a themed craft afternoon or supper? Whatever you have in mind, using Care Vision’s planning tools to arrange it all will help keep the time sucking admin vampires at bay. A combination of event planning tools, including diary, staff rota scheduling, meal planning, ingredients sourcing, budgeting support and more can make the process far easier to manage. Just as well, as it won’t be long before event planning must start again for Christmas and the festive season. Now, that is a scary thought!
Audits and reports
Finally, a very important part of care home management is completing the required audits and reports that ensure compliance with the CQC, HMRC and other relevant authorities. Much of the hassle around preparing reports for these types of reasons lies in the information gathering stages. Care Vision removes this nightmare by allowing users to draw up previously inputted information and updates to inform audits and reports. Far less risk of producing errors and no need to spend hours looking for the data you need before you can start work. Leaving you time to go and enjoy a quick round of trick or treat with your residents and colleagues.
