// END-USER INSIGHT //

Hough said : “ The way a lot of care was being delivered just didn ’ t seem fit for the 21st century . Slow and untimely information flows meant patients were being discharged from hospital without a carer ready to see them at home .

“ Meanwhile , carers were being called up at home outside of work hours so they could be told client information or given rotas . Our introduction often leads to a big cultural shift in the agency .”

IT ’ S PROJECTS LIKE THIS THAT MAKE ME PROUD OF MY COMPANY AND REALLY BELIEVE WE ARE HELPING PEOPLE . enable staff members to stay in the loop . Software such as Teams and Slack are staples of the company ’ s internal comms . Another essential tool is the company ’ s choice of customer relationship management software , Hubspot .

As its client base grows , CareLineLive ever more frequently uses the all-in-one messaging platform , Intercom , which Hough says works well for after sales support . But Hough says it also provides vital information which can then be sent back to the product and development teams .

He said : “ Intercom ’ s prime function is to resolve customer queries . But it also logs requests which can be sent back to our product manager and development teams .

“ While some of our development pathway is dictated by compliance and the needs of major partners like the NHS , I think it is also really important to listen to customers for their requirements and ideas .”

The results : From paper-based systems into the 21st century

CareLineLive has made a tremendous difference to the homecare agencies that adopt it as well as the carers and the patients who receive the treatment . In many cases , it marks a move from services being delivered by traditional tools like spreadsheets , or even sheets of paper , and staff rotas delivered by post .

One of CareLineLive ’ s biggest projects was with the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland . The trust provides over 30,000 domiciliary care visits a week via a team of over 600 carers .

The trust had been using paper-based processes previously and initially started using CareLineLive as a pilot . However , despite the significant change in practice , a poll of office staff gave 100 % support to its full adoption .

One staff member said : “ I was completely against it at the start and was unwilling to embrace it . Now I feel silly because it has all worked out for the best .”

The results of using CareLineLive revealed significant improvements across the board . Over a period of eight months , the app improved capacity by 3,919 hours , which was worth £ 73,000 to the trust .

Time spent managing rotas fell from 17 to 12 hours per week and 87 % of users reported an improvement in service . There has been a 96 % reduction in missed calls – from 287 to 11 in one year , and the trust saved £ 35,000 a year on postage alone – more than enough to cover the costs of using CareLineLive .

“ It ’ s projects like this that make me proud of my company and really believe we are helping people ,” said Hough . �

46 Intelligent SME . tech