Care home staff worry 'outdated processes' and obsolete practices impacting quality of care

Two thirds of care home staff (66 per cent) say the quality of resident care and the ability to cater properly for dietary and nutritional needs, are some of the key areas being side-lined as a result of obsolete practices, according to new survey.

An independent survey commissioned by eProcurement technology firm Zupa, has raised several concerns from care home professionals across the UK with 86 per cent saying vital aspects of care provision are suffering at the hands of outdated and time-consuming procedures, with many staff struggling to fulfil their day to day roles.

Over half of workers (54 per cent) felt staff happiness was overlooked, with 44 per cent attributing high turnover to low pay levels.

Ollie Brand, chief executive at Zupa said: “Caring for the vulnerable and elderly is time-consuming and demanding. It requires specialist skills and knowledge. This study highlights care home staff are having to deal with multiple challenges with little resource, and only so many hours in the day.

“There is also a direct correlation between what worries care home staff day to day and the quality of care they are physically able to deliver. Patchy reporting, outdated processes and a heavy reliance on manual updates, simply add to the frustration and puts greater pressure on already stretched staff.”

'Lack of staffing and resource is still a key concern for care homes'

When asked what would they spend more time on if they could reduce the amount of paperwork, 56 per cent of care workers say they would like to improve the standard of resident care. Likewise, almost half (49 per cent) said they would improve staff satisfaction, suggesting that reducing admin would free up more time to focus on staff morale and happiness.

The poll also shows 63 per cent of care home managers link much of their day to day concerns to the wear and tear stresses placed upon their teams. Lack of staffing and resource also continues to be a worry for the sector, with 67 per cent of care workers citing this as a key challenge.

The study also revealed that over half (52 per cent) of respondents, agreed care home inspections simply add further pressure to their role, and would welcome a way to improve this process.

More than a third of care home managers (32 per cent) also said keeping up with recording resident data around nutrition and hydration, worries them. A further 41 per cent were understandably concerned about the rising costs of food, energy and inflation, while 30 per cent of care home workers identified supplier issues, food shortages and running out of supplies as a growing concern.

Mr Brand added: “Lack of staffing and resource is still a key concern for care homes. It’s clear that in many cases, the adoption of automated, fit for purpose technology could help alleviate many of these day to day pressures and interestingly, those care professionals who said they would implement new technology if they had more time, are most likely to say that staff happiness, productivity of staff and quality of care are being side-lined.”