OnePlan Blog

In an ideal world we would retain 100% of our staff and have minimal recruitment and training costs, however Social Care is facing an industry wide struggle with retention, with Skills for Care reporting a 30.7% turnover rate in 2018. Social care is a demanding job and it is important your staff are supported to carry out their roles successfully. Research has discovered that company culture, working environment and pay are the top 3 factors in staff satisfaction. Here are our top tips to support your carers and improve retention… 1.      360 Feedback It is vital to offer your staff the opportunity to provide open and honest feedback anonymously. 360 feedback is a model that allows staff to anonymously report any issues with their roles, the way they work and ways they feel management could support them better in their roles. This feedback is then reviewed regularly to assess progress in any highlighted areas, and is a great way to improve communicati...

Making the decision to arrange care for yourself or a family member can be a daunting experience. Navigating the world of social care if you are new to the process can be difficult but an important positive step to make towards an improved quality of life. Choosing the right care provider is the most important decision for you to make and OnePlan have put together their top tips to help you decide. Visit the CQC Website The Care Quality Commission is the regulatory body in charge of registering and inspecting care providers. Their website is full of information to help you find a provider, understand what to expect and most importantly lists the latest inspection reports for care providers including detailed ratings. Make sure you have a look at the reports for any providers you are considering for your care.  https://www.cqc.org.uk/search/services/services-in-your-home TOP TIP A key part of a CQC inspection involves asking care receivers and their families their ex...

Whether you're still paper-based or you currently have a software that isn't meeting your needs, navigating the software options on the market can be overwhelming. We've put together a simple checklist to help you make the right decision for your business. 1. Brainstorm the features you want from your new software.  What problems are you facing within your business, where are you wasting the most time on administration and what would be your 'wish list' to save you time and improve your service? This will help you create your own personal checklist to find a software that fits your way of working.  2. Make sure it has NFC Technology.  NFC is the latest development in ECM and a vital component to help you operate your business safely and effectively. Carers clock in and out with a swipe of their phones recording the time and location of their call. Find out more about NFC here:  https://www.oneplansoftware.co.uk/blog/article...

Social Care is just one of the sectors faced with increasingly difficult conditions in our current socio-economic climate, easily finding themselves overstretched due to lack of available funding and rising demand. We have put together our Top 7 ways to improve care quality without breaking the bank.    1. Review your processes to free up time. The most valuable resource in good care delivery is time. In an ideal world we would be able to take the time to ensure our clients physical and emotional needs are met to the fullest extent, however, the burden of extensive, while necessary, paperwork and potentially overstretched staff can be a barrier to this goal. Saving time on administration can allow staff to dedicate more time directly to their clients. Simplifying processes and banishing as much paperwork as possible is a direct route to freeing up valuable time. Using a good Electronic Call Monitoring system can save time in a multitude...

Raising vital funds in memory of Adam Panther OnePlan are proud to announce their partnership with the Bone Cancer Research Trust with The Adam Panther Tribute Fund. Adam Panther was the much loved son of Chris and Sue Newsome, who sadly passed away after a brave battle with Bone Cancer. You can read more about his inspiring story here: https://www.bcrt.org.uk/support/patient-stories/adam-panther To date we have raised almost £15,000 in memory of Adam. Funding is essential for research and treatment trials as unfortunately as a form of rare cancer, Bone Cancer lacks the vital investment needed to find better treatments and prevent other families going through this. Text BCRTADAP to 70800 to Donate £5 A word from Sue. "Our son Adam loved life and was such a kind and happy, fun loving son and brother to Nathan. He was 18 when he was diagnosed with  osteosarcoma  in his knee and after early scans was told it was metastatic and had spread to his lungs. From...

What is NFC Technology? NFC, or Near Field Communication Technology, is a form of wireless data transfer that allows two electronic devices to establish communication when they are within around 4cm of each other. Many smart phones have built in NFC technology and it is also available in the form of handy portable chips. When two devices are brought together the ‘active’ device can collect information from the transmitting device. We use this technology in our care plan software. How do we use it? Oneplans Care Plan Software utilises NFC Technology in their call tracking and monitoring. Carers carry an NFC enabled handset whilst clients have a chip in their residence. Carers simply swipe their handset to ‘clock in’ to a call and the handset will register the call start time and location. They can then swipe their handset again to ‘clock out’. Why is this better than clocking into a care plan software system manually? Our clients report one of the primary benefi...