Free software for care homes to encourage remote working during coronavirus pandemic

Care homes in the UK are being offered free software to help their head office staff access resident and staff records remotely in reaction to the government requirements during the coronavirus pandemic.

This free offer from Leeds based company CoolCare is aimed to provide an easy way to assist the running of core business processes as remotely as possible.

The software will be provided for free for at least three months and is available for care homes which do not currently have software provision.

'CoolCare can help keep residents and staff safe'

CoolCare managing director, Fiona Hale said: “We know remote working can be tough for care home groups – even for those that have intranets/VPN connections, as a sudden increase in demand may slow connections significantly. There are so many operators that don’t have a system other than those available on premise. The pandemic, and toll it will take on availability of staff, has caught many businesses, across all sectors, unprepared.

“We can see how much just having the basic version of our software will help with business continuity. We’ll offer this free access to as many operators as we feasibly can to help them in this difficult time and try to retain business continuity.”

CoolCare’s offer is a basic version of the CoolCare4 system. It includes essential elements of its system and support services, which will enable an operator to continue core business functions. Features include enquiry or occupancy management, resident invoicing and staff records to monitor training, appraisal and relevant pre-start checks. The more advanced features of the software such as T&A and rostering, for example, are excluded.

CoolCare4 software is cloud based and so can be switched on remotely with the operator’s data uploaded from a spreadsheet. As CoolCare4 is accessible through a website, it means providers whose head office staff do not have work laptops can access data through their work phones or personal devices, if necessary.

During this time of lock-down, it will reduce the number of staff who need to be office-based as well as reducing the need to access intranets and paper records. It will also enable senior managers to continue to keep up to date with their care homes’ performance.

“If by giving a few providers a solution to enable to work remotely, CoolCare can help keep residents and staff safe, keeping the business afloat, it’s just something we have to give back to the sector.

“Once things settle down, there will be no obligation to keep the system – it’s come at a cost to us but we’re happy to do it for this sector we know struggles at the best of times," added Ms Hale.

If you want to take up the free care home management software for your organisation click here or email info@coolcare4.co.uk for further information.

CoolCare will install on a first-come-first-served basis as quickly as possible.

click here for more details or to contact CoolCare Ltd