Secure Managed Care Birtley House is a Ready Business Vodafone Power to you
UK care providers want to raise quality standards, but must do so against a backdrop of budget cuts. A new smartwatch application, powered by Vodafone connectivity, can deliver higher levels of comfort and safety, whilst improving efficiency through the use of secure monitoring services. There s a fundamental element that. Residents want to feel that they are in their own home. Even when they have got all the care and support around them they want to feel part of a family. Simon Whalley, Owner, Birtley House A history of care Birtley House is a premier care home in south-east England. It appears every inch the traditional, conservative institution: an attractive old country house in Surrey, 48 acres of gardens and parkland, hosting sculpture exhibitions, wood and plant fairs and managed by the third and fourth generations of the same family that founded the business over 80 years ago. It is anything but. We re traditional, but we ve always been innovative, says Simon Whalley, Owner of Birtley House, we want to be innovative in terms of new services and how best to deliver these. Fundamentally, he says, residents want to feel they are in their own home. It is this ethos that drives Birtley House and the Whalley family s management. There is absolutely a place for technology in the care sector, but residents don t want to be pushed into something inappropriate or which might make them feel like they are in an institution.
Residents want to have a comfortable environment, somewhere they recognise and feel comfortable in. We have always had to be innovative in the services that we offer and the way we offer them. Simon Whalley, Owner, Birtley House Technology to enable independent living Birtley House is trialling a new smart watch technology powered by Vodafone. Residents and staff of Birtley House will wear the smart watch which will track them around the grounds and provide a means to quickly alert staff to any problems. Staff can then contact the resident directly through the Vodafone connectivity built into the watch. This eliminates the need for the resident to carry a separate smartphone, call bell or other device. Whalley says the trial has limited goals at this stage. We want to check the connectivity around the estate and that residents are comfortable wearing and using the watch, but he believes the bigger picture can be transformative. Our goal is to link the watch with a host of other services. The system could be linked to a resident s doctor, or record blood pressure, pulse, meals or medicines. All of this is geared towards improving and extending independent living it must be supportive and not controlling. While care is the priority, Whalley admits there is an economic advantage. We have just over 50 residents and 120 staff, so we have a high ratio of care providers, but we still need to make the most efficient use of resources. Staffing is the main cost to the business, it can be hard to recruit and retain good staff. The Vodafone solution enables us to better focus resources. We can be quicker to respond to an issue, faster to conduct staff handovers and more confident that residents are safe and content. Inevitably, he feels, it is economics that will drive the take up of such tracking solutions: Austerity has caused huge problems in the care sector.
The solution 24/7 secure response service manned by professionals who deal with sensitive situations every day (not just a call centre) Unobtrusive device, simple to use even when the patient is confused. And, unlike a phone, it s unlikely to be forgotten Allows the response service to communicate directly with the person Geolocation to allow the person to be found easily An alerting system that enables unusual behaviour to be detected early, avoiding serious issues developing Calendar reminders which can be controlled and administered centrally. National government and local authorities are interested in how technology can help solve some of these issues. I believe that the Vodafone solution will save staff time, yet is sufficiently personal for residents. For Vodafone, the use of smart watches in applications like that at Birtley House provides an opportunity beyond simple connectivity. Vodafone M2M already provides secure operating centres through which, monitoring and intervention services are delivered 24/7. These centres are very secure with highly trained staff, who can respond to a range of different alarms and ensure that the right intervention is provided, be this for the recovery of a stolen car, or calling a nurse to deal with a worried patient. Phil Skipper, Head of Vodafone M2M Business Development says: By using our specialist secure operating centres and partnering with innovative application developers like SimpliFlow, we can provide complete end-to-end services that deliver real outcomes for our customers. From a simple alert, we can detect the location of the user, open a voice channel directly to the watch, determine the situation and summon the necessary assistance from carers and family whilst keeping an open channel to reassure the user all the time. Birtley House will be taking part in a Surrey Care Association conference in May, and hopes to be involved in Care England s autumn conference. We want to be part of the conversation. We won t expect the way the solution has been implemented here to be applicable to every care provider, but it may generate ideas. We need to collaborate with others to ensure a better future for all those in need of care.
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