Care South, a not-for-profit charity and provider of residential, nursing and dementia care across the south of England, has invested in new technology and implemented electronic care plans across its 15 care homes.

The initiative aims to transform and modernise how care is recorded at each home to ensure carers spend less time completing paperwork and more time looking after residents.

The roll-out began with Sussexdown in Storrington and finished with Kenwith Castle in Bideford, Devon.

The system will enable nominated relatives to access residents’ care plans as part of a new ‘family gateway’, providing access to real-time care information and two-way communication with teams.

Angie l’Anson, group practice development lead at Care South, said: “Electronic care planning has been a really exciting opportunity for us at Care South as care plans are essential to ensuring residents receive the appropriate care for their needs. Not only does it enable our carers to easily access and record residents’ notes at point of care, but it also facilitates management and auditing of care plans and notes from anywhere and at any time, giving a better overview of all care needs. Research suggests that it leads to improved care delivery, a more person-centred approach and meeting both medical and social needs, which saves time and results in a higher quality experience of care with residents.

“The roll-out has been a great success. Our teams have embraced the changes and can really see the benefits to both the residents in our care and their own working days. They enjoy how interactive and easy the system has been to use, even for our employees who are not used to smartphones and computers. All our care homes have fully embraced electronic care planning which has now been rolled out across all our homes.”