Service efficiency

In person-centred care, the service user’s voice should be at the heart of care planning. In this blog, care expert, Mark Topps, shares ideas to more effectively include the service user’s voice in care planning.

Download your free PBS template and discover key tips from Mark Topps on how to successfully create a PBS plan in your organisation.

Anna Lawrence discusses the four principles of person-centred care and the vital importance they are in delivering quality social care for individuals.

Richard Weir shares examples of daily care notes and provides insight into how these can be a useful tool for supporting and evidencing service user care plans

Mark Topps shares tips on how to implement more compassionate hiring practices when hiring international team members in social care

Richard Weir provides an overview of the powerful Positive Behaviour Support framework, how it provides service users with a better quality of life, and the value it provides to carers in reducing incidents of behaviour that challenges.

Mark Topps discusses the importance of risk assessments in social care, and provides tips for how care teams can better reduce or mitigate risks.

Mark Topps shares 5 tips to help social care teams improve communication with their service users, and the different types of circumstances to consider.

Discover the best way to set effective person-centred goals and track your service users’ progress with Log my Care’s Outcomes and goals feature.

Mark Topps discusses the importance of succession planning in social care, and shares practical tips for applying it successfully to nurture and develop talent.

Mark Topps shares tips on how to ensure staff stay prepared to best support service users over the holiday season and continue progressing with their goals.

For National Safeguarding Adults Week 2023, Mark Topps takes a look at its role in social care and how care professionals can stay vigilant for clients.

Mark Topps shares 8 effective tips to enhance team efficiency in health and social care, to improve productivity and create a sustainable, modern care service.

Mark Topps explores some of the challenges in end of life and palliative care, with tips on how to improve the process within your services.

Mark Topps discusses the importance of effective communication in health and social care and how to promote it – with 10 tips from industry professionals.

Standardise your current risk assessment processes with our free templates. Use our BMI risk assessment template to calculate an individual’s BMI and determine potential risks. Download now for free!

Standardise your current risk assessment processes with our free templates. Use our Waterlow risk assessment template to evaluate the risk of an individual developing pressure ulcers and to improve care. Download now for free!

Standardise your current risk assessment processes with our free templates. Use our Manual handling (or moving and handling) risk assessment template to assess a client’s physical capabilities and limitations, and evaluate your environment. Download now for free!

Adult social care statistics in the UK for 2023, focusing on employee retention, digital transformation, key trends and the future of care.

Not sure how to do a risk assessment in social care? Download our free templates with 3 examples of different types of risk assessments in health and social care.

Mark Topps explains the importance of improving your data and cyber security in adult social care, with six tips to protecting personal information.

Mark Topps goes over what social care consultancies are, their importance in the sector, and five benefits care providers can take advantage of when hiring one.

This week Mark Topps takes a deep dive into a topic that's been lurking in the shadows of care services: closed cultures. This article explores the harmful effects of closed cultures and shares strategies to prevent them.

Mark Topps on the duty of candour – what it is and the steps to fostering a culture of transparency in your care service.

Mark Topps takes us through data-based decision-making – the benefits, how to get started and using it to make a positive change in your service.

Want to go above and beyond with staff training? Mark Topps shares advice for care providers who want to make Outstanding more than a rating.

Mark Topps shares his advice for preparing your team for organisational change.

Mark Topps shares his top tips for setting organisational and personal goals, alongside manageable ways to help you achieve them.

Discover the best way to set effective person-centred goals and track your service users’ progress with Log my Care’s Outcomes and goals feature.

The UK weather is unpredictable at best with heavy rain, high winds and the occasional snow drift thrown in the midst. From my own experience, looking outside to see adverse weather fills me with dread and I’m left thinking, “Can I get to the person I’m supporting?” and “Will they be ok?” Here are some handy tips for how you can keep those you care for safe and well.

The use of pet therapy has steadily increased over the last few years and can improve the wellbeing of those in receipt of care. In this week’s blog, I look at the benefits of pet therapy and how you can implement this within your service.

Mark Topps shares tips for making a winter plan for your service and a template to get you started.

With the cost-of-living crisis, prices are sky-rocketing with residential services feeling the pinch, with 96% of care homes experiencing increased costs. In this week’s blog, I look at how you can cut operational costs to survive the price hikes.

If you’re not making the most of social media to market your care service, you’re missing a trick! Most social media platforms are free to use and can help you attract new staff and potential customers. In this week's blog, I look at some of the platforms you can use to your advantage.

Our partners, Klyk, share their expert advice for using mobile device management to stay cyber secure.

Administering meds is an incredibly daunting part of any caring role, but do you know what steps you need to take if things go wrong? In this week’s blog, I look at the 10 most common medication errors and the processes both carers and managers need to follow if these occur.

One essential element of any sound cyber security strategy is securing your mobile devices and tablets. This may sound daunting, but there are a few simple and easy steps you can take to protect your devices and the information on them. And best of all, they are completely free!

Using strong passwords is one of the simplest and most effective security measures you can put in place to protect your data from cyber threats. That’s why we’ve put together some useful do’s and don’ts for creating strong passwords.

With the recent sunshine across most of the UK for the last few weeks and the forecast ahead looking good, it’s time to get you care service ready for the summer season.

The most common cyber threat in the UK is phishing attacks. While they occur frequently, there are some very simple things you can do to avoid most of them.

Mark Topps looks at what employees and employers can do to tackle pay and benefits, to aid recruitment and retention of the workforce and improve working conditions.

Mark Topps looks as some of the pressing issues facing the social care industry, including recruitment, fuel prices and the cost of living.

In his latest column, Mark Topps discusses inequalities and discrimination in social care and what care providers can do to tackle the issue.

Mark Topps looks at what innovation means within care, what plans the government has for this and how you can implement innovation within your service.

From Easter egg hunts to planting flowers, Mark Topps shares some entertaining Easter activities that will bring the joy of spring into your care home.

Mark Topps shares his advice to help your service run smoothly over the bank holiday, from contigency plans and rotas to ordering prescriptions and supplies.

Read our top tips on how to establish consent from a client who's initially refused, like changing your communication methods and better understanding needs.

Find out how consent reduces your risk & improves the person-centre care you deliver, read our best practice advice & discover how we help you manage consent.

Mark Topps reveals why risk-taking is a hot topic in social care and gives his advice on how to mitigate risks to provide the best outcomes for your clients.

Stay on top of monitoring malnutrition within your service by using our 5-step guide to calculating MUST scores, written by social care expert Mark Topps.

Mark Topps explains what support is available from local authorities, the NHS and the government to help pay for care, and what self-funding options look like.

Mark Topps discusses grief following the passing of a client and the different types of bereavement support you can access to help process the loss.

Mark Topps walks you through the steps you can take to best support clients and their families, helping them to fulfil their final wishes.

Mark Topps explores the differences between leaders and managers, revealing what you think the distinctions are.

Download special coronavirus care plan and risk assessment templates and save yourself heaps of time. All you need to do is enter your email and we'll send copies straight over to you.

All ready for Christmas? Mark Topps has got your planning sorted and shares his advice about what to prioritise in the run-up to the festive season.

From singing carols to baking cookies, Mark Topps shares his favourite yuletide activities that will be sure to keep Christmas spirits high in your care home.

Mark Topps offers his advice on creating a welcoming eating environment, from setting the scene to getting those in your care involved in meal prep.

For #MouthCancerAction month, Mark Topps shares 9 tips to improve oral health in care homes.

eMAR, or Electronic Medication Administration Record, has grown in prevalence in the care sector over recent years, along with a number of other digital systems. Electronic care planning has been with us a long time, but often cost (and perhaps a bit of technophobia) have put many off engaging with some digital products. But things are changing – tech is becoming more affordable and its prevalence in our everyday lives makes us fear it a bit less.

At the bottom of every MAR sheet there are several codes relating to medication administration. These are used to indicate what happened when the medication was administered. We've written a short blog to decode these codes and help you understand exactly what each means.

Care home insurance renewal can be a stressful topic, especially during a pandemic! Our team has collaborated with the folks at Marsh Commercial to take some of the burden off of you by creating this guide to renewing your insurance during COVID-19.

In his latest Social Care Column, Mark Topps shares tips on how to plan appropriate and fun activities in your care service.

Mark Topps dives into the adverse effects of dehydration and what you can do in your care service to ensure your service users are hydrated and in good health.

In his latest Social Care Column, Mark Topps shares a super helpful chart to help Care Managers and Owners stay on top of their record-keeping.

We take a look at the data collected from our coronavirus monitoring tools and reflect on how we supported our community during COVID19.

Mark Topps's latest instalment focuses on the importance of collaboration in the social care sector. Check it out now!

We're thrilled to announce a new column written by social care advocate, Mark Topps. Mark will cover different issues and themes in the social care sector using his experience as a Carer and as someone who has campaigned for positive changes within the industry.

We've partnered with Oak House Kitchen, experts in specialised diets and nutrition, to create this guide to holiday meal-planning for dysphagic service users. Read on to learn how you can keep the holidays inclusive and fun for those with dysphagia.

We know how important connection is between service users and their loved ones, especially now. That's why we put together a couple of resources around visitation guidance during COVID-19 for you to use when making decisions about letting visitors come to your facility.

These 5 creative tricks developed by care providers across the UK will help you to protect against COVID-19.

Staying active and holding onto a sense of purpose can be really hard for care users during the Coronavirus crisis, but having a good array of activities can help keep boredom and frustration at bay. Here's some of the ideas we've come up with for care home activities

With the current lockdown measures not looking likely to change anytime soon, our latest blog explores how technology can help people in care keep in touch with their loved ones during a lockdown.

When clinical staff and carers deliver care to an individual, this is recorded in care notes which can be digital, or paper based. We call this a point of care system which traditionally included a lot of paper-based and handwritten notes (which can be difficult to read at the best of times).

The information and data a care business holds is more than just a record of how many service-users there are or which members of the team are on shift that day.

Care plan technology that fits seamlessly into your daily routine can be a real benefit and improve the lives of everyone involved in care homes.

Just working hard isn't enough for CQC they need you to evidence your hard work to score a Good or a coveted Oustanding rating. This week's blog covers how electronic care records can be used to evidence care delivery.

How do you know if your care plans are robust enough to pass a regulatory inspection? And will they help your service-users get the support they actually need?

The care sector continues to face tighter budgets, rising costs, and financial pressure, you're probably asking yourself how a care home app can save you money.

In order to help care providers avoid the pitfalls associated with poor care plans, we've compiled a list of the 'Top 10 mistakes poor care plans make' and a list of methods you can use to avoid making them yourself.

With a huge range of different apps available for almost anything, you can imagine. We thought it'd be great to list some of the top apps for care assistants. So here goes - here are our nominations for the top apps for care assistants.