Care Homes
The regulator of adult care services in the UK is the Care Quality Commission, and ProCVT will help homes meet CQC standards: care that is tailored, administered with dignity and respect, consensual and safe; effective governance that improves service and reduce risks to a resident's health, safety and welfare.
Care Homes keep an ongoing care plan and risk assessment daily record based on visits by the carers who use paper-based systems or, more and more frequently, input data into Electronic Care Planning (ECP) systems with hand-held devices or PCs located around the building. This is true of residential, nursing and for domiciliary care. ProCVT will provide elements of this assessment constantly for remote monitoring of multiple residents without having to disturb them, and without them having to wear any devices.
Automation generally, and ECP systems specifically, are driving employee engagement, empowerment and productivity, as this study shows. Staff who have used ECP are unwilling to revert back to paper-based systems, which is particularly important in an industry traditionally with high churn. ProCVT offers a high degree of automation on its own or integrated with existing ECP systems. This level of automation also enables better partnerships with local health services, including fewer patient/GP journeys.
Disturbing residents at night and night time falls are a major problem in both nursing and residential care. Night checks are a requirement in both and this normally involves going into the bedroom which interrupts sleep and has negative knock-on effects such as decreased appetite and increased incidence of Sundowning Syndrome. It also takes up staff time which could be used for other functions, eg. looking after dementia patients who are most restless during the night and the most likely to have a fall. Dementia is on the rise, and aside from night falls, sufferers are often unable to explain that they are in pain or feeling ill. ProCVT would improve operational efficiency, resident safety and comfort, and can potentially identify pain or illness.
Regarding illness, specifically viral infection, ProCVT will ensure the earliest detection, minimising risk of spread and enabling timely intervention for better health outcomes. Heart rate, respiration rate and temperature will increase in symptomatic cases, whereas CVT decreases in both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases. (The vagus nerve is one of the negative feedback arms of the immune response to any antigen including infections and it is the first and fastest to respond.) Thus ProCVT, and CVT specifically, acts as a leading indicator of health issues in advance of a person realising anything is amiss. It should be noted that during sleep is the best time for all these measures as there is minimal interference from external factors.
ProCVT would be an important marketing tool to drive new customer intake and maximise occupancy. Location, reputation and word of mouth are the most important factors when choosing a home, so having a technological USP such as ProCVT is valuable and offers relatives additional peace of mind.