Don’t forget those receiving care at home

“No one’s here. They forgot me.” Those are the haunting words of 83 year old Muriel Price who was lying in bed waiting for a Care Worker who was 50 minutes late to get her up. Muriel is then heard sobbing with frustration.

Care Minister Norman Lamb recognises that there is a crisis in the home care system and acknowledges that this is not an isolated case.    

Earlier this year a report by the Care Quality Commission ‘Not just a number Homecare inspection programme’ identified that the most common theme dominating all the standards checked related to late or missed calls. The report concluded that this has a significant impact on people using services, as waiting for a visit from their Care Workers leaves people feeling vulnerable and undervalued. This was certainly the case for Muriel Price.

Mark Thomas, Managing Director of Care Monitoring 2000 says “It is widely acknowledged that late and missed visits cause great distress to those receiving care at home. An electronic visit monitoring system is an effective way of ensuring those responsible for organising the care have real-time information about what is happening out in the community. This allows action to be taken if visits run late.”

The CQC report identified that “Some homecare Providers are failing to assess the impact of late or missed calls, and failing to monitor and address this vital element of delivering care.”

CM2000 has been developing specialist care monitoring solutions for the last 14 years and now works with 84 Councils and over 700 Care Providers. While the implementation of electronic monitoring has historically been driven by Local Authorities, CM2000 are now finding many quality-focussed Providers are approaching them directly.

Stuart Higgins, Director of Tipton Homecare says “I would recommend CM2000 to any Homecare Provider. Having a real-time view of what Care Workers are doing and safeguarding Service Users is so powerful. If every call is monitored by CM2000, we have peace of mind.”

Unique Care Solutions implemented CM2000’s electronic care monitoring in 2012 and it has already been acknowledged by the Care Inspectorate as contributing to improved levels of service. Director, Jack Pestana, says “CallConfirmLive! is a fantastic quality tool. It allows us to plan our service, measure performance and take action to deal with problems or exceptions whilst providing a complete audit trail. We are delighted with the positive impact it has had on our business.”

Mark Thomas concludes “The care system is facing a range of challenges which cannot be solved overnight. However, technology exists to effectively monitor real-time care delivery which can reduce the impact of late and missed visits. If that improves the quality of care for people like Muriel Price then why isn’t all home care being monitored?”

For further information contact Care Monitoring 2000 on 0121 308 3010.

Four Oaks House

160 Lichfield Road

Sutton Coldfield

West Midlands

B74 2TZ

Tel: 0121 308 3010

email: services@cm2000.co.uk

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