The provision of optimum patient care often requires a joined-up approach from multiple healthcare providers. The CQC plays a major role in ensuring that care quality benchmarks are met across all these organisations. As a regulatory body, the CQC mandates organisations to follow an appropriate framework and methodology to ensure safe and appropriate care delivery.
This blog covers the five key areas that CQC focuses on during their inspections. A robust care management software has a positive impact when evidencing that your organisation meets each of the five requirements whilst reducing the time it takes your staff to prepare for an inspection. Daily, your care management software should reduce the overheads associated with manual record-keeping whilst reducing the possibility of human error.
An all-in-one, person-centred care management software can help care staff focus on what matters to the people. With all the patient’s facts and details in one place, clinical decisions become easier and safer.
So, let's have a look at the contribution that digital software makes towards obtaining an outstanding CQC rating demonstrating that your teams are providing a high quality of care:
Of prime importance is whether the patients are safe and protected from harm and abuse.
1. Staff should be able to record all safeguarding concerns and the conclusions reached about those concerns. A confirmed safeguarding or child protection issue should be flagged discreetly on the front of the patient’s record which is easily added and removed when you work electronically. Full details should be available to staff on a secure and reliable need-to-know basis.
2. An online body map will provide a visual and historical record of physical injuries. This information helps your professionals to ascertain whether there is a safeguarding concern.
The next prerequisite is the quality of care that is provided. Is it effective and are the outcomes favourable for the person receiving it?
1. Good care planning ensures that the correct care is provided to a patient based on their needs and wishes. An electronic care management system can provide the team with the tools they need to create flexible templates which will reflect the care that they provide. An online secure family portal that allows the patient or their family to review these care plans provides reassurance that care will be provided according to their needs and wishes. Reviewing their care plans online provides the opportunity for the patient or their family to raise any concerns before a visit or appointment.
2. Electronic care plans that produce a record of patient dependencies allow an electronic roster to match patients to staff who have achieved the appropriate competencies for their care.
3. Recording the patient's progress within an outcomes module tracks care provided and demonstrates that decisions have been based on the needs and wishes of the patient.
The next factor that lies at the heart of every care service is whether the staff are compassionate and receptive to each patient's care needs and treats them with respect.
1. A lot of this comes back to electronic care plans that have flexible templates. These will allow staff to get to know the patient and their families. The team can then involve them in decisions about their care.
2. Diet plans are about what is safe and suitable for the patient to eat but should also record which of those foods they enjoy eating. With online access to this information, the catering team can plan meals that actively encourage each patient to eat and drink enough to meet their nutritional needs and, importantly, allow them to enjoy that meal.
3. Detailing patient preferences will ensure that patients only receive notifications of services that are appropriate for them and that they would like to access. This attention to detail respects their personal space and choices and reassures them that the staff know them as an individual.
The fourth factor is whether the care that is provided is receptive to the patient's choices and preferences. Is it good enough to meet their requirements?
1. Once again, this is all about having flexible care plans. Custom care plans based on health-related dependencies and patient wishes should provide all the knowledge the care team needs to work with the patient.
2. Notes of daily care that can easily be filtered provide staff with the updates they need about the patient’s recent care. An easy view of handover notes for residential care means nothing will be missed.
3. Meal plans based on each patient’s nutritional needs, including their likes and dislikes, are a further demonstration to the patient that the organisation considers patient choice in every element of the provision of care.
4. Correspondence preferences and patient's family-approved care plans are much easier to manage when information is recorded and provided within one care management software platform.
Last but not the least, the management's responsiveness towards the patient's individual needs. Is the governance good and the level of their involvement in ensuring a high-quality care delivery?
1. A robust platform protected by dual-factor authentication will ensure that the patient's information is safe and secure.
2. Care Plan and Notes audits and sign-off give senior staff a quick route to ensure that care plans and notes are being completed appropriately and are up to date. Electronic reviews will be quicker and more efficient than working through paper notes
3. Comprehensive online reports and administrative task management, shift rostering and funding and invoicing reduce the burden on the staff. This time can be utilised in care delivery.
4. Audit trail of online access activities and Permission-based staff roles prevents unauthorised activity in the care portal providing a secure platform for storing personal patient records.
Care organisations which centralise their activities using an online platform can perform more effectively than those that use time-consuming manual processes. This takes away from staff the burden of manual data processing and can help them see a bigger picture on one single screen. Switching to online care management software can transform the quality-of-care delivery by providing staff with the information needed to offer the best for the people in their care.
If you are looking for software that can help you with the CQC regulations, speak to our experts today!
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