Month: February 2015

Care plans that fit your service users and your staff

Anyone working in the care sector knows how vitally important a comprehensive and clear care plan is to the ongoing quality of care and well-being of the service user. A care plan is a document that must be understandable to the service user and their relatives as well as to the care team responsible for the delivery of its content. What’s more, under scrutiny from CQC, it is an auditable document on which an inspector will base his or her assessment of the quality of care provided and outcomes achieved.

Key to creating effective care plans is ensuring that they give relevant clinical detail together with the practical lifestyle and personal information required by the care staff – the definition of a good person centred care plan. So, when care providers consider computerising their care plans, do they seriously consider how service users’ care plans may change over time – or indeed changes in the type of care service that their organisation may in future provide?

Watch our video to see different care plan styles

Flexibility is crucial to achieve this. Our care-Log+ care home management software has always been designed around this principle but in the area of care plans – and in the hands of our users – it continues to deliver multiple styles of care plan across ever evolving types of care delivery. Take a look at our care record mangement overview video to see some of the variety of care plan styles that our care home clients use.

Posted by administrator in Care home management, Domiciliary care and supported living, Nursing home management

easyLog’s staff scheduling software factors in the Bradford Factor

The Bradford Factor is a simple formula to help manage short term sick absences and determine when these have become excessive. Named after the University of Bradford Management School, where much of the original absenteeism research was conducted, the calculation was initially associated more with the public sector and very large corporations.

The Bradford Factor (B) formula is:

number of occasions sick (S) x number of occasions sick (S) x total number of days absent (D)

Using this formula an employee taking several single days of absence will generate a larger points score than a member of staff who has one extended period of illness within the same timescale. Although the calculation should always be viewed on a case-by-case basis, the implication is that the higher the points score the more prone the worker may be to casual absence.

In today’s changed economic climate, frequent short-term sick absences have become a significant cause for concern across all sizes of business – and use of the Bradford Factor has spread accordingly.

In response to this easyLog has implemented a Bradford Factor report into its market-leading e-Log+S staff scheduling software. The report can be run for any range of staff across any period of time and be introduced into a regular personnel review meeting or run on an ad hoc basis when concerns may arise about a specific employee’s attendance record.

The Bradford Factor is just one element in a range of employee reporting tools included as standard within the e-Log+ staff scheduling software – functionality designed to present managers with the information they need to run their workforce most efficiently. You can find out more about using the Bradford Factor and easyLog’s staff scheduling software to monitor patterns of employee absenteeism by watching our latest video – Absenteeism management from your staff rota.

Posted by administrator in Business support, Rota software, Scheduling software

New web pages for community-based care providers

As you may know we recently gave our specialist product for domiciliary care and supported living providers, Home Care Studio, an overhaul – and now we have completed a revamp of our web pages for community-based care customers to match.

We have divided the section into two parts for simplicity, covering the Home Care Studio software and visit recording hardware options.

The Home Care Studio pages detail the six main features of the system: client records and care plans, rostering, payroll and invoicing, staff records and training, the easyLog care-Logger app and risk assessments. Each description includes sample screen images that can be expanded to full size with a click of a mouse so you can see how it all looks for yourself.

The visit recording pages cover three options popular with our domiciliary care and supported living customers: mobile phone and tablet-based devices, SIM-based devices and our range of specialist terminals for mobile workers.

You can find out more about our software and hardware products for community-based care providers by checking out our web pages or discussing the options with one of our team.

Posted by administrator in Clocking and employee attendance, Domiciliary care and supported living, Latest news, Mobile worker tracking, Rota software, Scheduling software

Bristol care home group first to use hand-scanner template software

biometric-handscanner-in-use-WHITE

Last month we announced the launch of our new software that distributes hand templates to scanners in different locations – and already our first client has gone live with the application.

Bristol-based Alexandra Homes is using our hand-scanners to keep a record of staff comings and goings at all three of its premises. The software upgrade means that employees’ hand templates can be instantly distributed to all three care homes, so employees can clock in or out at any site without having to create a new template – something that will be particularly useful for newcomers and staff working across the different homes.

For more information about biometric clocking devices, read our blog on choosing the most suitable device or visit our new clocking options pages. Alternatively, contact us to discuss the most appropriate system for your workforce.

Posted by administrator in Care home management, Clocking and employee attendance, Latest news, Mobile worker tracking