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15-minute Dementia visits are not enough – IQTimecard to help with home care schedules

12/02/2018

New rules from the Care Quality Commission mean that home care providers must offer visits which last longer than 15 minutes. To this end, one of the UK’s leading workforce management companies, IQTimecard has become involved in ensuring that this new rule is followed.

The CQC says that there are many home care providers who will now be penalised for offering short visits to patients who suffer from Dementia.

IQTimecard is regarded as one of the UK’s leading companies in attendance solutions, with their system being used in the home care industry. They say that managers will now be able to take control of employee schedules and ensure that clients get the amount of care they need. This is particularly important when working with vulnerable clients who have dementia.

CQC feels that with dementia clients, short visits of 15 minutes or less will only confuse the client, and simply cannot offer enough time to take care of their needs. By using the IQTimecard system, managing employees visit times will result in better care for the client.

David Lynes from IQTimecard says that the new rules will be very welcome for many care homes as it means that vulnerable clients will not be passed over with short visits which do not fully take care of all their needs. The system will play an important part in ensuring that managers are kept up to date on the changes.

Some of the features of the IQTimecard system include scheduling shifts for certain employees, to make sure that they spend longer than 15 minutes with a client, to give the care that is required of them.

CQC Chief Inspector, Andrea Sutcliffe spoke to The Times recently. She stated that this is an issue about needs of the client not being met. Short visits of 15 minutes are ineffective in the care of elderly people. These visits are not appropriate for the clients who need help at home.

CQC called for better management from home care companies, with more time being set aside for the most vulnerable clients. IQTimecard will ensure that employees spend the necessary amount of time so that the client’s needs to be met.

The system used by IQTimecards tracks how many hours an employee has worked, as well as how long was spent at any location. It is a simple touch tone phone system with the software allowing the employee to clock in and out of every location. This will give managers a better idea of how much time is spent with each client.

Spending extra time with vulnerable clients, and those with Dementia will be a significant factor in the improvement of the service offered to them. Management will be able to track time spent in each home, travel time, starting, and finishing times of employees. This way they can optimise the movements of their individual teams to produce more effective and better standards of home care.