In this blog, we unpick how going digital with your care management systems can help you to regain control of the stress your carers are facing – and it’s not as big a change as you might think.

Reducing stress in the care industry

Operating in an incredibly demanding sector, homecare businesses and carers often work in a high-stress environment. 

A recent CQC study highlights how hospital and homecare workers are extremely vulnerable to stress and burnout as a result of their working environment and demanding responsibilities. 

If not monitored carefully, ongoing workplace stress can lead to an increase in the number of mistakes made by carers – as it’s estimated that 71% of people are more prone to making mistakes when under increased stress. 

These mistakes can be anything from missed medication, missed visits or inaccurate reporting, for example. As mistakes increase, as do stress levels, creating a virtuous circle that’s hard to break. 

The key? Reducing the stresses faced by your caregivers – to minimise mistakes in care provisions – but it can often be easier said than done, especially when demand for services is at an all-time high. 

What difference does a digital system make?

When addressing stress and minimising mistakes in your homecare business, it’s essential to first consider how your business operates as a whole. At every level, consider how you can help to alleviate pressure and, in turn, minimise mistakes. Digital care systems can help you to:

1.    Ensure robust record-keeping

Paper-based systems are inherently prone to mistakes and misinterpretations, as carers are heavily reliant on deciphering one another’s notes and handwriting. 

As paper care logs are often also only collected every week, or even every month, which means it can take time for notes to be picked up and acted upon to adjust a service user’s care plan. This can also mean it takes longer to pick up on any care mistakes. 

Paperless, digital care systems enable you to centralise all of this patient data, meaning you can access any service users’ care plans and records at any time, from anywhere. This gives carers reassurance, as it guides them through care visits, ensuring nothing is missed and that any issues will be picked up immediately by care managers or registered managers. 

2.    Implement continuity of care

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) considers ‘continuity of care’ as a critical quality criteria market for adult care services. This ensures the care you provide to service users is consistent, for example, delivered by the same carer or care team. 

Care continuity enables your service users to connect with carers that are familiar with their needs and care preferences. In turn, this increases the quality of care you’re able to provide, and it will also reduce the number of mistakes, as there’s a strong sense of familiarity between carers, service users and care plans. 

3.    Maintain training records

Staying on top of training and qualifications for your carers is critical to safeguarding your service users and the confidence of your carers. It also helps to instil the behaviours, attitudes, knowledge and skills required to provide high-quality, person-centred care, while also giving carers the confidence to understand how they should react should a mistake occur. 

Digital care systems keep track of your carer records, notifying you when they are due to expire or need renewing. This ensures your carers are confident in the service they’re providing to your clients, minimising mistakes and reducing stress.

Helping you with your paperless journey

Going digital doesn’t have to be as big a change as you might think. 

Perhaps your carers have been working in the same way for a number of years and are reluctant to change? That’s why we design our systems around the way that you work – so it replicates your existing processes. Carers can work in the same way, but with digital records instead of paper records. 

Digital care systems have a key role to play in alleviating carer pressure and minimising care errors. 

Want to find out more?

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