Real-time time heat maps of over 5000 care home staff are being used by operators to help reveal the precise care resources and costs provided to any one individual resident.
Developed by Eclipse Nursecall Systems (ENS), the location technology-enabled heat maps record staff movements during a shift including exact minutes spent delivering in-bedroom care.
By marrying job roles and pay grades to staff wearing digital tracking fobs, the data shows small dots for a small amount of time and large dots for longer periods.
Viewing the heat maps on a computer or digital device, care operators and managers can see and assess accurate labour costs for staff supporting any one resident thereby helping operators with overall financial management.
The unique Pinguu technology, now used in over 50 homes by 5000-plus staff across the UK, also removes the burden of paper records and reduces risk of non-compliance as staff no longer need to manually log in and out of bedrooms and responses to nurse calls.
Care operators say the technology is also enabling them to better allocate staff resources in a home.
“The technology has allowed us to make changes to improve care for our ladies and gentlemen as and when they need it and also identify peak times of activity within the home so we can staff accordingly,” said Helen Davies-Parsons, chief executive of Dormy Care Communities, which operates four luxury homes in England and Wales.
“We’ve used location technology for many years as it helps us understand where the unexpected demands on staff time might come from,” she added.
“It’s also helped to identify changes in care need, such as when staff start spending more time delivering in-bedroom care to a lady or gentleman overnight.”
ENS Digital operations director Gary Woods said: “Care home operators and managers love location technology as knowing where their staff are, particularly the amount of time they’re spending with individual residents in bedrooms is enormously helpful.
“Also, the digital data it generates provides the information required for CQC inspections,” he added.
