Terence Manning

Dear Sir, Thank you for your report made under RegulaƟon 28 dated 10 May. In the report, you outline concerns that inaccurate entries appeared in Mr Manning’s records as to the diet with which he was provided. You record concerns that such entries were errors in record keeping caused by carers “carrying forward” or transposing the records of one resident into the care records of another. At the inquest hearing, we recall that the very capability of the soŌware concerned to allow such transposing appeared to cause you concern. In terms of our staff, we would like to reassure you that all staff have been reminded about the importance of accuracy in record keeping. We have parƟcularly reminded the staff about the risks of using what is termed the “repeat funcƟonality” of the soŌware in quesƟon, and to ensure that records are checked for accuracy aŌer use of this feature. In addiƟon, immediately following receipt of your report, we made contact with the soŌware provider, Person Centred SoŌware Ltd. We explained the background, including our receipt of your report, and the specifics of the recording system findings about the ability to transpose entries between service users. We received the following reply from their Chief Product Officer (a copy of the original emails can be supplied if necessary):

“The purpose of our care delivery solution is to give carers more time to provide care and less time spent recording care actions – we have seen huge benefit from this approach. It means that care providers have more data and better data and can make better decision. At the same time, we strive to support a proper recording with small number of mistakes done by the personnel. The “repeat functionality” is designed to make repetitive tasks and care actions quicker and easier to record. That's very beneficial if multiple residents are taking part in one activity - e.g. physical exercise. A carer may have supported multiple residents with the same care, and thus benefit from being able to repeat the same action for one resident to another; there remains however the responsibility of the user to ensure that the care record reflects the care provided. It should also be noted that the care is record ‘post the care interaction’ and would not therefore have been used to determine how a resident will have their food prepared. It is important that carers are encouraged to record the most accurate and person-centred records as possible. Based on your input, we will review the repeat functionality in detail and consider certain categories of care to be removed from the repeat functionality. That would force users to individually report the details for each resident in those selected categories. I hope this helps with the response to the coroner and addresses any concerns they have. We believe that Haddon Court Rest Home (Haddon Court Ltd) has taken robust measures to ensure records at the home meet the standards rightly expected from legal, professional and regulatory perspecƟves. We have also responded as fully as we are able to in relaƟon to bringing this maƩer to the aƩenƟon of and influencing the soŌware provider. I understand that they are currently working on the funcƟonality that will help to reduce the risk of erroneous recording. Should you require any further informaƟon or have any further concerns, please let me know.