Challenges

NHS Wakefield CCG monitors the quality of care in 95 care homes across West Yorkshire. Previously, they used pen & paper audits and spreadsheets to record audit results, taking up hours of administration which meant they couldn’t carry out as many inspections as they would wish.

Key challenges:

• Delay between audit completion and providing results back to care home manager
• Lack of time to inspect care homes regularly
• Disconnect between care home staff and managers

Solutions

Using the Perfect Ward app, NHS Wakefield CCG has been able to increase their audit completion rate from 20 a year to 100 a year. Being able to see audit data instantly allows staff to spot areas of concern as well as areas where they are performing well.This enables them to be proactive rather than reactive, so that they can help staff address issues immediately. Staff are easily able to track improvements in audits providing assurance on improved quality.

Impact

After implementation, NHS Wakefield CCG has not only been able to dramatically increase their number of inspections, but have seen a significant improvement in their relationship with care home management and staff. They are now seen as partners rather than assessors and are able to work together with care homes in suggesting and implementing improvements in quality. Staff at care homes are more confident as they have immediate feedback on what is working well and what needs to improve.

"With Perfect Ward, we can feed back on the day and they know exactly what improvements they need, and the staff find it very supportive because they know exactly what they’ve got to do at the end of the visit."

Fiona Forbes
Quality Support Manager
NHS Wakefield CCG