Welcome to our first newsletter of 2010 and a belated Happy New Year to you.

2009 was a challenging year for many businesses including those in the care sector. Home care providers and care homes were faced with the unenviable task of delivering the highest level of quality care under mounting financial constraints. High fuel and energy costs, the squeeze on local authority budgets, damaging PR - resulting in even closer scrutiny of service delivery, and some major changes in the way the industry is governed combined to make 2009 a year many will wish to forget.

Reflecting on HET Software’s year, although a tough one, we have

continued to build our client base resulting in an increase in turnover of 35% on 2008. The level of service and support we deliver to clients is paramount to our continued success and in recognition of this further investment in both people and systems has been made.

2009 seemed the right time to put something back into the care industry.
In June we sponsored the Registered Home Care Worker Award at the Ceretas Home Care Awards and were overall sponsors for the Ceretas Annual Conference and Exhibition. This resulted in HET Software agreeing to be the principle sponsor for the Great British Care Awards.

Enjoy this newsletter and please email any feedback and comments to john.mayhew@hetsoftware.com.

...with Great West Midlands Care Awards winner Claire Cooper, Home Care Manager, Radis Community Care.

Radis Community Care is a family run company with seventeen branches across the Midlands, the South and South East and Wales.

Claire is the manager at the Brownhills branch in Walsall and, with her team of over seventy staff, is responsible for delivering care to around two hundred and fifty service users in the Rugeley, Lichfield, Cannock and Burntwood areas.

HET:"Congratulations Claire on winning the Registered Home Care Manager Award. How did you feel when you heard your name being called out on the night?"
Claire: "It was a lovely surprise, very unexpected, I really did not think I would win. I felt very proud of my team here at Brownhills, we have all worked hard together and to have that recognised is fantastic."

HET: "It is a fantastic achievement. Do you think that your experiences as a Care Assistant have influenced how you approach your current role as a Home Care Manager?"
Claire: "I feel it means I have more empathy towards the care workers and am fully aware of the challenges they face whilst working in the community. The role of the Home Care Manager can be very difficult and very demanding yet at the same time rewarding. With the right support anything is achievable - and enjoyable."

HET: "The judges identified that you had strong leadership skills and a quiet determination. What qualities do you think help to make a good Home Care Manager?"
Claire: "I believe knowing when the team require a manager and when they look towards a leader is a must. Being a good listener and approachable with good communication skills whilst being mindful of others is key."

HET: "The care industry always seems to be working under enormous pressure, how do you help your team cope with working in such a demanding environment?"
Claire: "Good communication is vital; we have regular team meetings to deal with any difficulties. The company provide a good support network with help and

John Mayhew, Claire Cooper and Cheryl Baker at GWMCA

assistance always available. The branch holds regular supervisions and ongoing training and we always give staff the recognition they deserve."

HET: "Would you like to comment on the impact that the Personalisation Agenda will have on Home Care providers?"
Claire: "As we provide a high level of service we are sure that service users will wish to receive care and support from Radis Community Care. As for providing outcome based, flexible care, that will be more of a challenge due to restrictions of the care workers hours. However we have good working relationships with our service users and we will endeavour to work with them to ensure all their needs can be met."

HET: "What do you do to ensure your service users are happy with the care delivered by Radis Community Care?"
Claire: "We have regular telephone monitoring and annual Service User surveys. Service users have a voice and input into the care and support they receive and are aware they can contact us at any time. We always do our best to ensure we provide the quality of care they deserve."

HET: "How are you feeling about attending the National Home Care Final in May?"
Claire: "I feel privileged to be representing the branch and company. Meeting up with others who show the same determination and drive in achieving the same goal is an honour."

HET: "Thank you for taking the time to talk to us Claire and good luck for the final!"

Food for thought...

Electronic Timesheet Monitoring –
the end of the no-cost phone call?

Could the use of a no-cost phone call in electronic call monitoring be threatened by Telco industry action against the use of Caller Line Identification?
John Mayhew thinks it should.

Many of the market leading suppliers of electronic call monitoring use a no-cost phone call as the basis of their service. The carer makes two phone calls to indicate arrival and departure. The call is not answered as their systems can read the Caller Line Identification (CLI), which identifies the origin of the call. Ultimately this data is used to confirm the visit and converts into payroll and invoicing.

I have seen estimates that the call volume from CLI in the UK home care industry is now approaching 20 million a month. This presents a potential problem - the phone company has to provide the infrastructure, but receives no revenue from the service, as the call is unanswered. CLI was introduced as a free of charge service for the benefit of domestic customers – not to be commercially exploited.

Some monitoring suppliers utilise a paid phone call and they allege that this creates an anti-competitive position if they are tendering for business against a supplier who does not use a paid phone call.

Enter OfCom and BT - whom we understand would like to see this

misuse of CLI stopped. The worrying part of this situation is that because there is no contract between the Telco and the monitoring supplier, because calls are not being charged, the normal business rules do not apply.

Does this mean that monitoring services could simply be turned off without notice? This raises some important issues within the industry; it may even have some impact on the ESPO Framework Agreement for Electronic Call Monitoring. Several suppliers approved by the Frame Agreement use no-cost phone call monitoring.

If I was a care provider using ECM with a no-charge phone call as the basis I would probably be trying to get assurances that my service provider was planning to replace the use of the no-cost phone call with a paid phone call.

At HET Software our concern is always the continuity of our clients’ businesses. We originally used a no-cost phone call in our electronic monitoring solution; however we have now re-engineered our proposition to utilise a paid phone call - the cost of the calls is paid within the monitoring charges. HET Software has been able to maintain its charges at the same level, so clients and potential clients are being offered the premium service at the same rate as before.

What do you think? Email your comments to john.mayhew@hetsoftware.com

Client Profile:
Kivernell Care

Business is pretty good at Kivernell Care in Lymington, Hampshire. Directors Amanda and Douglas Wood report that their business has grown 30% year-on-year – and is likely to exceed £2 million this financial year.

Kivernell have been users of CareManager since July 1999 and have now grown to around 135 carers plus admin staff.  Douglas Wood said that with “visits reaching 4,000 each week, I was really concerned to see what could be done to improve the efficiency of the back office function.

That many visits generates a huge amount of ‘static’, by which  I mean general activity in organising, and sometimes then re-organising, that volume of visits.  A simple change often involves two or more phone calls in checking that a carer is available.  On top of that there is a constant flow of humdrum queries; addresses, locations, service user information - it was costly and inefficient.”

Douglas attended the launch of CareManagerMobile at the Ceretas

National conference in June 2009. He quickly saw that this new product from HET Software provided him with more than ‘time and attendance’ recording. “I thought this would remove much of that ‘static’.  Visits can be changed and communicated to the carer without making a special phone call.  Carers can accept or decline new work at the touch of a button.  On top of that CareManager Mobile offered time and attendance and lone worker protection.”

Kivernell agreed to be a pilot site and have spent over 4 months using a beta version  of the system.  They have been an invaluable source of ideas and feedback to the development team and as a result HET has been able to introduce substantial improvement to the way the service operates.

Douglas Wood said he was pleasantly surprised with the reaction of his carers.  “I expected some negative reaction, but the users have found it easy to use and like the way that it empowers them when they are with a service user.

Kivernell are now working on plans to introduce CareManagerMobile to all their carers in the first half of 2010.

The Great British Care Awards - call for entries

During October and November 2009 five regional finals of the Great British Care Awards (GBCA) took place with the winners of each of the award categories going forward to the National Home Care Final on 15th May or the National Care Home Final on 5th June.

The success of the GBCA events in the North and the Midlands has prompted the organisers to roll out the awards to four other regions: London, East of England, South East and South West.

You can download your Great British Care Awards entry form here. The closing date for entries is 1st March 2010, winners will be notified by 8th March 2010 and will be invited to attend the national finals.

The number of award categories for both the Home Care and Care Home Awards has been extended and nominations are invited from throughout the UK for the new categories.

You can download your Great British National Home Care Awards entry form for new categories here. The closing date for entries is 29th March 2010, shortlisted nominees will be invited for an interview with the judging panel on 14th April 2010.

For colleagues in the care home sector an entry form for the Great British National Care Home Awards for new categories is also available for download. Closing date for entries is 19th April and shortlisted nominees will be asked to attend an interview with the judging panel on 5th May, 2010.

Why not nominate one of your colleagues and show your support for their dedication and commitment or nominate an employee to acknowledge your pride in their hard work and excellence?

If you require further information please visit the GBCA website - www.care-awards.co.uk.

CareManagerMobile – revolutionising care

In 2009 we launched an innovative, exciting new solution – CareManagerMobile. The development of our latest product was in response to the introduction of the Personalisation Agenda, where the emphasis is on delivering outcome led care services in a flexible and responsive manner.

What is CareManagerMobile?
CareManagerMobile is a software solution developed specifically for the domiciliary care market.  Building on the tried and tested CareManager3 product, which offers one system for rostering and call monitoring.

CareManagerMobile offers a revolutionary approach to home care management –the exchange of real time information between the homecare provider and the care worker quickly and easily.

What does it do?
CareManagerMobile has been developed to facilitate improved communication between home care managers and administrators and their home care staff resulting in a positive outcome on the quality of service received by the service user.

CareManagerMobile can deliver tangible business benefits, including:

Improved service delivery – more efficient communication will speed up the way you manage changes

Peace of mind – for service users; home care workers and home care managers and administrators

Easier resource management - plan visits, reallocate missed calls, reschedule late calls or redirect other care workers if a visit is time critical all in a matter of minutes rather than hours

Enhanced productivity - helps to make your back office operations more efficient and streamlined

Reduced costs - eliminate unnecessary paperwork such as timesheets, mileage claim forms, schedule lists and reduce administration costs

Real time audit trail – track and manage every amendment to care planned vs. care delivered, the ultimate proof of care

Lone worker safety – support care staff through GPS location tracking and discreet panic alert links.

Find out more about CareManagerMobile

“After experiencing a demonstration of CareManagerMobile at the Ceretas Annual Conference in June last year my thoughts were that it could finally take care work into the 21st century.

CareManagerMobile appeared to offer so many benefits - as a business tool to help improve the management of care and at an operational level to assist care workers  and coordinators to carry out their tasks more efficiently.

I agreed to run a 4-month pilot with CareManagerMobile.  I am very pleased with the outcome and we are now working towards providing the devices to all 135 carers.” (Please see the client case study for more information)

Douglas Wood, Director of Kivernell Care Limited in Hampshire

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