The Challenge

There is a real risk of error in medicines management in care homes. Firstly, traditional paper-based systems are difficult to manage and lead to safety issues. For example, a double dose of medicine due to faulty paper recording can lead to overdose – a possibility when you consider there can be over 5,000 paper records created per week creating a significant administrative burden. Secondly, paper systems are also difficult to audit because they may be damaged or misplaced. These limitations made it hard to prove accountable systems were in place when Bethany Care Home was inspected by the Care Quality Commission, which is responsible for regulating care homes in England. Robert Phelps and his team wanted to use technology to provide not only a safer system for administration of medicines, but also a more accountable system that would enable analysis of the performance of staff and highlight where further training is needed. In response to this, Bethany Care Home trialled first generation Invatech software, delivered on a competitor handheld device. The software addressed some of the issue highlighted above, but the devices were slow and staff found them difficult to use. The screen was small, the battery life was limited and there were reliability issues that meant reverting to paper. It was clear a different device was required to deliver the software – one that was more reliable, durable, antibacterial, waterproof, with a long battery life, touchscreen, accurate scanning ability, and was most of all, easy to use.

The SOLUTION

After a rigorous audit process, Invatech selected the MioCARE™ A235, a handheld tablet with an integrated barcode scanner. It is designed for the care market, with its antimicrobial coating, as well as being durable, rugged and lightweight. Staff at Bethany Care Home claim the second-generation Pro-active Care System (PCS) and the new MioCARE™ A235 have revolutionised the care they can provide.

The OUTCOME

Bethany Care Home was pleased with the transition to the new PCS on the MioCARE™ A235. Because of detailed medication recording, it’s now easy to react to emergencies by pulling patient records to find details of the medication the resident had received and at what time. This is useful for the ambulance service, saving time digging through pages of paper notes and wasting valuable time.