Oaklands Rest Home is a care facility dedicated to providing high-quality care to its residents, ensuring their safety, comfort, and well-being. Oaklands Rest Home was looking for a solution that could reduce falls, enhance resident sleep quality, provide real-time monitoring, and offer comprehensive recordings for investigations. With guidance from Hampshire Care Association, they reviewed and chose to implement the Ally Resident Monitoring system. Nicola Ray, the Registered Manager, and Mia Williams, the Head of Care, share insights into their first-hand experience of implementing Ally and the impact it’s had on their residents’ lives.
The challenge
As well as experiencing some challenges related to falls incidents, Oaklands Rest Home wanted to improve residents' sleep and to be able to address concerns from families about night-time care. There was also some apprehension among staff regarding the adoption of new technology and how this might impact their ways of working.
Implementation experience:
Initially, the transition to the Ally system had a few challenges as staff needed extra time and additional training to adapt to the new technology but soon after they embraced the change in their ways of working and the system's benefits.
Cultural change for the team:
The implementation of the Ally system brought about a significant cultural shift within the Oaklands Rest Home team. Once staff members understood the system's benefits, particularly its focus on improving resident care and safety, their attitudes shifted.
"The cultural change for the team is mostly around the restfulness for the residents and ensuring that they have a good sleep and that they remain safe." - Nicola Ray, Registered Manager
As staff members realised the Ally system was designed to enhance resident well-being rather than monitoring their performance, they became more receptive to its implementation. The system's ability to reduce response times, identify health concerns, and streamline operations alleviated staff concerns and fostered a culture of trust and confidence in the technology.
"In the beginning, we still considered doing a lot of checks alongside the Ally system, but now we are more trusting of the system, so we only go in there when we are needed or when there is a care need to go in. So there's been a culture shift towards trusting the system more." - Nicola Ray, Registered Manager
Reaping the benefits
With the introduction of Ally, Oaklands Rest Home has been able to realise a number of expected and unexpected benefits:
Reduction in falls: The primary expected benefit of implementing the Ally system was a reduction in falls among residents. By providing real-time monitoring and alerts, the system aimed to prevent falls and enhance resident safety during nighttime hours.
"For us, the reason why we went with the Ally system was because we wanted the reduction in falls, which was the big selling point. Also, we wanted the security of knowing that our residents were having restful sleep and if there was anything that was untoward in the night, we would know about it” - Nicola Ray, Registered Manager
Improved sleep quality: Oaklands Rest Home expected the Ally system to contribute to residents' restful sleep by minimising disturbances during the night. By monitoring activity and providing reassurance, the system aimed to promote better sleep patterns.
“Sleep deprivation is huge, being woken up every two hours by someone coming in your room is not good. It can lead to agitation and things like that, but obviously with Ally we don't have to do that. We can listen, be reassured that they're settled and they're safe and we don't have to disturb them.” - Mia Williams, Head of Care
Enhanced investigation capabilities: Another anticipated benefit was the ability to conduct thorough investigations into incidents or concerns. The Ally system's recording features provided a comprehensive overview of night-time activities, aiding investigations and ensuring accountability.
“For the falls that we have had, there’s been a lot more information we've been able to pass to the family because they haven't always been a witnessed fall. So, we are still able to give that information, play back and listen to what happened, how the fall came about.” - Mia Williams, Head of Care
"I have actually used it in an investigation where I requested some recordings and it helped immensely. We had a much broader picture of what happened on that night. So it was much easier" - Nicola Ray, Registered Manager
Improved resident care: The Ally system has helped to significantly reduce response times, enabling staff to attend to residents' needs promptly. This improvement has helped residents enjoy a more restful sleep and increased their overall well-being and has enabled a more person-centred approach to care planning, something the staff at Oaklands are seeing the benefit of.
“When we see what's going on in the night, we can then re-look at the care plan for the night-time and we can write that as person-centred as we can because Ally will allow us to see what is going on in the night, what is normal for somebody, and then what is something that's occurring that we have to look at.” - Nicola Ray, Registered Manager
Streamlined operations: Ally's integration with Oakland's existing care records system has helped to streamline documentation processes and reduce staff workload.
"Because it syncs with the current system we use for care records, that helps. We are not doubling up our workload. We don't have to write everything in because it's integrated into the system, it really helps” - Nicola Ray, Registered Manager
" We've managed to halve our response times from when we first started. So, we are really happy with that” - Nicola Ray, Registered Manager
Identification of health concerns: An unexpected benefit of the Ally system is its capability to identify health concerns. By monitoring residents' night-time activities, the system has been instrumental in the early detection of health concerns such as Covid-19 symptoms and other medical issues like chest infections, leading to timely interventions and improved health outcomes.
" I actually worked a night shift and I listened to several calls of one of our ladies who had a bad cough through the night, so we did a covid test and yes it actually picked up a positive covid result. We also had somebody who again was poorly in the night and she actually had a chest infection. So if we hadn't listened to the Ally recordings, we wouldn't have picked it up.” - Nicola Ray, Registered Manager
“The impact of picking up things on Ally is really good. We have picked up a Covid case where it was showing someone that was coughing throughout the night, which led to us to test them for Covid. Somebody was coughing, we called the GP out because they were negative for Covid and that led them to having a course of antibiotics, so that was really good.” - Mia Williams, Head of Care
Improved family reassurance: The Ally system has also been able to provide additional reassurance to families by offering comprehensive monitoring and investigation capabilities. Families have expressed feeling confident in the care provided at Oaklands Rest Home, knowing that the Ally system enables thorough monitoring and transparency.
“Interaction with families is really good. We've had a recent episode here where somebody did have a fall and we were able to use that and the process for us really helped us to support the family and it actually meant that that family member left their relative with us because they felt secure and safe knowing that that system was in place once they actually experienced what the system can do and then the knowledge that we can gain from that system” - Mia Williams, Head of Care
Increased occupancy rates: The presence of the Ally system enhanced the facility's reputation and confidence among prospective residents and their families. This has resulted in increased occupancy rates, with families choosing Oaklands Rest Home for its advanced monitoring capabilities and commitment to resident well-being.
“I didn't realise that it would sell rooms. I didn't realise that it would have such an impact that on doing a viewing with a family, that that would make a huge difference to them paying the money and coming here, which is great.” - Mia Williams, Head of Care
“We have got family members, in fact, two residents here that have come here because of Ally because they wanted to know that they were safe and they had that and they weren't going be woken up throughout the night, cause they know that waking up is not nice. So it really has improved us as a business overall.” - Mia Williams, Head of Care
The implementation of the Ally system at Oaklands Rest Home has transformed resident care, improved staff efficiency, and enhanced family satisfaction. By leveraging advanced monitoring technology, the facility has achieved its goal of providing a safe, comfortable, environment for its residents, setting a benchmark for quality person-centred care in the community.
Watch our interview with Nicola Ray, Nicola Ray, Registered Manager and Mia Williams, Head of Care at Oaklands Rest Home
