New technology set to ‘transform care service’
GLASGOW’S largest home care provider has pledged to provide better support for vulnerable residents.
Having equipped its home carers with new iPhones, computer software will be used to make the service more efficient.
The CareSafe mobile app will be used by more than 2500 home carers across the city.
Frances McMeeking, Cordia’s Cordia head of operations (Care Services), said: “The new CareSafe app has been hugely beneficial to the overall service we provide, helping us to deliver a consistently high standard of home care to service users across Glasgow.
“It will reduce instances of missed appointments, offer navigational help for the team and provide an added level of comfort to both our service users and employees.
“A team of coordinators can now monitor visits in real-time; quickly checking in with individual members of staff if a visit isn’t made. Equally, our home carers can also phone ahead to say they’ve been subject to a delay, which is something we know service users appreciate.
“As we roll out iPhones to our 2500-strong team we’re confident of the efficiencies this will bring to the operation.”
The app helps with scheduling, allowing users to ‘check-in’ and ‘check-out’ of homes.
A coordinator, based in a central hub, monitors a dashboard of all visits in their area, identifying if any visits have been delayed or missed.
Home carers are able to telephone in advance if they are running late, while coordinators can ensure visits have been made to each service user on their rota, in real-time.
There is built-in GPS allowing home care teams to work out how long it will take colleagues to travel to their next visit.
Each employee has been issued an iPhone enabling them to use Google Maps if they are unsure where a new client live.
The fully encrypted device also includes a secure space for home care employees to store pass-code information to access service user’s homes.
The main objective of the system is to reduce missed visits to service users and it also helps guarantee employee safety.
Mary Jenkins, 86, receives four visits a day to her house in Yoker.
A home carer, such as Moira Duffy, then uses the app to ‘checkin’, scanning a QR code in Mary’s house.
Getting a lot of visits per day means a home carer can phone Mary in advance if they are going to be a bit late.
Mary, who previously worked in Singers, making parts for the world famous sewing machine brand, can also call Cordia herself and make sure everything is running on time.
The app was developed in-house by Cordia’s ICT team.
Brendan Murphy, Cordia’s head of ICT and marketing said: “Our ICT team spent three months alongside home care employees, working with them to shape the app development to meet their requirements.
“The end result is an effective and user-friendly piece of tech which will produce major benefits for our home care operation.”