7/10
care businesses say technology that keeps family members in the loop is important for business growth
State of Tech, 2022
58%
say technology helps their care professionals deliver more responsive care
State of Tech, 2022
How CHD Care at Home delivers care that family members love
About CHD Care at Home
CHD Care at Home is part of the CHD Living group, a family-owned, award-winning social care provider.
The CHD Care at Home team works from four home care agencies in Surrey and Hampshire, providing tailored domiciliary care packages for people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and other special needs.
The challenge
CHD Care at Home wanted to improve their communication with clients’ families. Their existing paper records system made keeping track of alerts more difficult than it needed to be, meaning the team could find themselves communicating important information to families quite some time after an event had already happened.
They wanted family members to feel informed and have confidence in the standard care their relative was receiving. After receiving a ‘Requires Improvement’ for two KLOEs in their last CQC inspection, things came to a head, and CHD Care at Home knew they had to find a solution.
The solution
CHD Care at Home wanted a better way to communicate with families, to build relationships, foster trust, and support the best outcomes for clients. To do this, they needed to improve their own internal systems. If the team knew what was happening in clients’ homes in real-time, they’d be able to communicate this with families without delay.
A new system would need to be CQC compliant, easy to use, and secure. The answer? A digital software solution that enabled them to eliminate paper records and simplify record-keeping and communications.
Because Birdie has the Family App, it means there’s transparency. The family members really love the fact they can look over everything. And especially through the pandemic, they were able to visit and see exactly what had been going on.
Here’s how they did it
CHD Care at Home partnered with Birdie to digitise their record-keeping and streamline processes. One of the standout features was Birdie’s Family App - a secure way to communicate with clients and their families via an easy-to-use phone app.
Not only did the Family App facilitate open communication, but it also freed up time to implement a brand new initiative: ‘Client of the Day’.
On a service user’s allocated day, staff thoroughly review their care and contact family members for feedback to create an in-depth picture of how that client is doing. If CHD Care at Home identifies things that need changing, they can often go into Birdie to action it instantly. They can also share outcomes with family members via the Family App, keeping everyone in the loop.
Designed to run alongside Birdie, our new Client of the Day initiative means staff have one client each day that they look at in-depth. They phone that client or that client’s family member and get feedback - so we're touching base, all the time.
Delivering care that families love
CHD Care at Home is a large home care agency group covering Surrey and Hampshire. An inefficient paper-based records system meant the team wasn’t discovering issues until days or weeks after the event. As a result, they couldn’t communicate openly with clients’ families promptly. When the CQC gave them a ‘Requires Improvement’ for two KLOEs, the team had to find a solution.
CHD Care at Home partnered with Birdie and adopted one of its standout features: the Family App. Family members access this easy-to-use app to keep track of how their relative is doing. Using the app freed up time for the team to start a new initiative, ‘Client of the Day’. Each client has an allocated day where staff and family members touch base to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Everyone benefits from this collaborative approach, and families love being involved in their relative's care.
Features mentioned
