Six out of ten care homes and home care agencies in Dorset now have electronic records in place, according to Dorset Council.

The Care Quality Commission’s Digitising Social Care programme aims to ensure 80% of social care services adopt digital care plans by March 2024. Digital Social Care Records (DSCR) allow the digital recording of care information and care received by an individual, within a social care setting, replacing traditional paper-based records.

Digital records enhance efficiency, accuracy and co-ordination, improve the continuity of care, and enable care providers to identify trends, monitor outcomes and make informed decisions.

Martin Ross, director of home care agency Care South at Home said: “Care South at Home introduced digital care planning into its services in late 2022.  Operationally it has fundamentally improved the experience and oversight of care delivery for clients, stakeholders, staff, and management teams.” 

He added: “Although some staff were nervous about its introduction, without exception feedback can be summed up ‘how did we manage without it’ and ‘it gives more time for our clients’.  It is also a greener, more sustainable and fits better with CQC’s new single assessment framework, including remote monitoring of systems.”

Rachel Bedford, managing director of RHB Care Services, which provides domiciliary care across Dorset and the New Forest, said introducing an electronic based system had made a huge different to the firm’s workload:

“We are monitoring compliance daily so we can pick up on any concerns at the time and feel this is a much safer way to protect people’s security/data protection,” she said. “We have seen a reduction in administrative cost, as we are now using less paper and files.”

Cllr Jane Somper, Portfolio Lead for Adult Social Care, Housing and Health at Dorset Council, welcomed the progress. “Embracing Digital Social Care Records will enable care homes and domiciliary care agencies to harness the benefits of efficiency, communication, data security and evidence-based decision making,” she said. “I hope more providers will be using electronic records soon.”

A conference organised by Dorset Council and Partners in Care on 21 September will bring together care providers to explore and discuss digital support options.