Lifeways replaces paper-based care plans with Nourish

Supported living provider Lifeways is replacing its paper-based care plans with electronic management system Nourish.

An NHS-assured supplier of social care technology, Nourish is being rolled out to all of Lifeways’ 9,300 support team members who care for 4,500 people in supported living, residential and mental health services. The platform will host care plans, assessments and support records, and will be accessed by staff using secure smartphones in each of its 1,500 locations across England, Scotland, and Wales.

It will digitally record over 36,000 support hours that Lifeways delivers each day, to help improve better outcomes for people it supports and their families.

The digital system is replacing verbal handovers and handwritten notes with automated alerts and secure, easy-to-read, up-to-date care records.

Lifeways’ support team members will use Nourish on secure on-site Android smartphones. This data is securely stored on a cloud server and can be accessed by other parties on a controlled case-by-case basis, including Lifeways’ central teams, social care commissioners, health visitors, and regulators where appropriate and relevant.

‘Nourish is a key pillar of our investment in future-proofing our care and support. Our investment is focused upon robust processes and the utilisation of technology that deliver more effective and efficient ways of working,’ said Andrea Kinkade, Lifeways’ chief executive officer.

‘Every support worker I know wishes to spend more of their time helping and supporting others to lead their very best life and less time filling in forms.

‘Nourish sees us ending a costly, often frustrating daily paper chase, so we can spend more quality, focused time with the nearly 4,500 people we support,’ she said.

Paul Barnes, chief customer officer at Nourish, added: ‘It’s been a real pleasure to partner with the Lifeways team and it’s powerful to see the impact digital transformation can have when delivered really well. This roll-out has also demonstrated the scalability of Nourish and our capacity to easily personalise to each person we support across Lifeways’ many community and residential settings.’

Implementation is the latest example of Lifeways upgrading its IT infrastructure. In December, it launched Deputy, a workforce management technology platform. The platform enables the provider’s support team members to manage their shifts on a mobile app on their own personal devices.