Doveleigh Care Ltd is dedicated to providing outstanding care for the elderly, a commitment that has been widely recognised within the industry. The group was awarded “Care Home Group of the Year” at the 2017 National Care Awards and has consistently ranked among the Top Twenty Care Home Groups in the UK for the past nine years, according to carehome.co.uk.
Three of its homes are rated “Outstanding” by the Care Quality Commission and their approach prioritises the privacy, dignity and individuality of every resident, ensuring they feel fully supported day and night.
Amy Burt, General Manager at Doveleigh Care Limited expressed her initial challenges and the results shown after incorporating CoolCare across all care home management operations.
Embracing Change with CoolCare
The transition to CoolCare began with a clear objective: to modernise outdated systems and adopt a more efficient, digital way of working. As Amy, General Manager at Doveleigh Care, explained:
“There was initial nervousness – will it make managers’ lives easier or harder? But from day one, the onboarding process was seamless, and the training was absolutely fantastic.
“This was incredibly important for us as we have a mix of staff with different IT literacy, so having a user-friendly system was essential. The training we had from the team at CoolCare was fantastic. They worked at a pace for all of us.”
“The support from CoolCare’s team was professional, swift and approachable.”
Amy
Immediate Benefits
“The impact was evident right away. Managers reported significant time savings and improved efficiency. Before CoolCare, creating rotas was a time-consuming process. Now, adjustments are made in minutes and updates are instantly communicated.
Amy continued; “The time saved for managers has been huge. We’ve reduced paper use massively, aligning with our sustainability goals and our managers can now spend more time with the care team and residents, rather than being stuck in the office.”
“The dashboard is great for signposting priorities, especially alongside our other digital systems for medications. It streamlines tasks, making it easier for staff to focus on what needs doing.” explained Amy.
The introduction of a messaging system has quickly become a favourite feature, it enhances communication between staff and management, saving time and reducing misunderstandings.
“For a business with multiple care homes, having a centralised system has been invaluable.”
Amy
“You can communicate with staff at all times. I would say the communication between the manager and the team has just improved so much. Any shifts that need covering, sickness cover, holiday cover etc can be addressed in real-time and resolved quickly.”
The introduction of biometrics has also been a success for the business, removing the risk of forgotten log-in fobs and ensuring accurate timesheets. Doveleigh notes that staff embraced the change, and the technology is working seamlessly.
“We used to spend a lot of time checking discrepancies between homes, staff, the rota and timesheets. Now, it’s instant, if someone stays late, we know right away. Before, they wouldn’t always note it on paper timesheets because they wanted to leave quickly after a late shift. This has improved accuracy and ensures staff aren’t underpaid.”
Streamlined Administration
CoolCare has also drastically reduced the administrative burden. Previously, Doveleigh estimated that rotas and timesheets consumed over 50 hours a month – equivalent to half of a full-time employee’s working hours.
Now, tasks like tracking holidays, absences and compliance reporting are automated – a real game-changer.
“CoolCare has reduced stress for our care managers. They have extremely demanding jobs, and this system has taken away a significant amount of pressure. Our managers spin plates all the time and the dashboard is really helpful for them. It shows everything – who’s got sponsorships, birthdays, appraisals. This is so important because it ensures we don’t ever miss an important milestone, like a staff birthday. It’s so important that we celebrate our staff. It’s these little things. It’s about valuing our staff as well, which really helps alongside the more business focused benefits of CoolCare. I can’t sing its praises enough.”
Looking Ahead
As Doveleigh Care began to explore our features, they became excited to implement occupancy management tools and enhance their training processes. When asked if they’d recommend CoolCare, the response was unanimous:
“We couldn’t wait to switch to the CoolCare system – it makes life so much easier!”
Amy
If you’d like to begin adopting CoolCare into your care home management practices, get in touch today.
