Common operational issues in care homes and how to resolve them

In order to maintain operational efficiency in a care home, you must tackle every problem or challenge head-on. We have listed some of the most common operational issues below and how you can effectively resolve them and prevent them from occurring in the future.

Operational problems and solutions for care homes

Staffing issues

Staffing issues can come in the form of staff shortages, not keeping the roster up to date and not giving staff enough rest days. All of these operational issues can have a significant impact on job satisfaction and staff motivation, so it’s important to stay on top of them. 

Make sure there is enough adequate training and development opportunities available for your care team to take advantage of. This will make them feel more valued and it is well-known that a satisfied and engaged team results in more productive and efficient operations. Also, by keeping on top of your staff rota and completing it enough in advance, you can ensure that your staffing is right, shifts can be swapped if necessary and your workers get enough rest so stress and burnout are avoided. You can guarantee that high quality care will always be delivered when your staff are healthy and happy. 

Our rostering feature helps you manage your rota effectively, so you can harmonise service user and carer preferences together. With everything all in one place, you can better understand your capacity to deliver care and every staff member can stay on top of any last minute changes or requests.

Teamwork disputes

Following on from staffing issues, teamwork disputes are another common problem that can arise which can result from managers not attending the handover, not listening to their team and staff members not getting along. It is vital that a care team is cohesive and communicative otherwise operations will be disjointed which can have a negative effect on the quality of care.

Every manager should have full understanding of the day-to-day operations and should attend the regular handovers to address any concerns or issues. By identifying these concerns or any mistakes early on, they can be tackled as soon as possible, removing the risk of further disruption and resulting in a more streamlined and efficient operation. Conflict resolution and problem solving can also help promote a more positive work culture, making each and every staff member feel included and appreciated. 

Improve your communication with our handover reports feature which shares data amongst the team and can help both managers and carers achieve a consistent service. Inspectors can also use this as evidence of effective working and continuity of care. 

Regulatory compliance

Quality of care must be compliant with regulatory requirements which are constantly being updated and upgraded. Care Quality Commission (CQC) standards must be met regarding patient care, patient safety and data security and regular compliance inspections must be passed. Keeping on top of this and meeting strict guidelines as well as running day-to-day operations can be difficult for all team members.

Documentation must always be accurate for medication, care plans and reporting incidents such as falls and accidents, safeguarding issues and infection control. Without this, not only will you receive a negative improvement rating, but you will also be putting service users at risk and it will have a knock-on effect on your care home operations. 

Always ensure your risk assessments are consistent and compliant by choosing a care management software that makes it easy. Our ready-to-use templates mean your care plans and risk assessments are always in-line with CQC requirements and managers can remain in control of operations. 

Not meeting service user needs

At Log my Care, we understand that it can be difficult to have all bases covered when it comes to the diverse needs and preferences of your service users. However, without doing so, you will be compromising the quality of care being delivered to these users and hindering your care home operations.

Care plans must be updated on a regular basis to stay on top of service user needs, but this should not be done by only a handful of staff members. Sharing this responsibility amongst your team will empower your employees whilst making sure each user's rights and values are being met. Removing any doubt surrounding a service user’s care plan will give your care workers the confidence in delivering high quality and effective care.

Digitising care plans makes this a lot easier. Not only is it more straightforward to implement any changes in preferences, but this information is accessible to your entire team so everyone is always up to date on how to tailor their care to individual service users.

Complex medication regimen

To meet the diverse needs of your service users, there is usually complex medication regimen to follow which can become confusing. With the volume of service users together with the assortment of medication required, it can lead to prescription, dispensary and administration mistakes.

These errors can be significantly damaging to the service user, so it is vital that care homes can prevent the likelihood of these. One way in which you can do this is by using a software that gives every staff member real-time access to service user data so medication can be kept up to date and managed effectively. This will reduce the risk of missing doses, double-dosing or delivering the incorrect medication.

Our eMAR feature keeps your team accountable and streamlines medication administration. It has the ability to alert your team when medication is due and offers a simple and easy way to log this, so the platform is always well organised and accurate.

By implementing these helpful features from our care home management software, you can address all of the concerns above and streamline your operations to deliver high quality care. Log my Care are here to support you, so book a demo today to see our software in action and how it can help you.