Tunstall Carecom image
Tunstall Carecom

A nursing home in Halifax has revealed it has avoided any cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic hit the UK, thanks to a “revolutionary” nurse call system from Tunstall Healthcare.

Park View Care Home had innovative wireless technology installed in the building by telecare provider Tunstall Healthcare.

Installed in 2019, the ‘Tunstall Carecom care assist system’ allowed Park View to avoid any coronavirus cases by enabling care to be delivered in exclusive bubbles, and automatically and discreetly notifying staff if a resident needed assistance. Staff were split into three teams and allocated to care for specific residents, reducing the risk of cross infection and enabling residents to be cared for whilst isolating if required.

Unlike traditional systems that rely on fixed call points, the assistive technology minimises disruption during installation and improves communication between staff and residents.

The system also allows care to become person-centred, rather than room-centred, as residents each have their own sensors according to their needs, which can be activated from anywhere in the home, making care more flexible and efficient. The system supports a less restrictive approach, as the technology manages risks that may otherwise require residents’ movements to be limited for safety reasons, such as falls.

During the pandemic, the assistive technology supported 10 staff members to move into the home full time and isolate to ensure round the clock monitoring of residents, alongside different areas of the building being sectioned off while still delivering a normal level of care.

Jason Sharpe, Operations Manager at Park View, commented: “Embracing new technologies has allowed us to protect every single one of our residents during the pandemic and this wouldn’t have been possible without the technology we’ve had installed. It has effectively enabled us to have our own Track and Trace systems, and having sensors in the residents’ rooms meant we knew they were safe in between our checks.

“By investing in cutting edge health tech, we were able to keep things as normal as possible for residents, even during the height of lockdown when they couldn’t see their families.

“Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Carecom has given us so much time back, meaning we can give our residents even higher levels of care, and provide their families with a greater level of reassurance. We’ve been able to boost morale and staff are feeling happier in their jobs. I don’t know how other care homes have managed without it, and I’d strongly encourage them to consider how they can use technology to improve the quality of life for the people in their care.”

Tunstall Healthcare recently acquired Dutch firm Secuvita, enabling pioneering healthcare solutions to be provided across the Netherlands and benefitting up to 70,000 existing Secuvita users.

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