Where did this all begin?

In 2016, audits were completed across MacIntyre so that we had a better understanding of what ‘Timely Diagnosis’ looks like for health conditions. The main findings showed that staff knew people supported by MacIntyre really well, however it was often not written down or recorded. Additionally, we found that when things to do with health had been recorded, important documents, such as the diagnosis of a condition, had been archived. We also noticed there were not many documents in existence to help staff record health well. 

What did we do about it?

To overcome these challenges, we undertook a review of what we currently record about a person we support and how much of this recording links to their health. We began to produce documents and remove duplication to better record a person’s health and changing needs.

These health documents have been reviewed by various people including Head of Operations teams, Area Managers, Compliance Teams, other Specialists, Frontline Managers, Support Workers, Seniors and the people we support. We repeatedly tweaked and fine-tuned the documents, taking on all advice and feedback from colleagues, which we will continue to do to ensure these documents meet the service needs. Because of the extensive review, ongoing reflection, feedback and improvements made, we know what we have created will improve health recording across all of MacIntyre. 

“Using the Health Calendar and its supporting documents has meant all our paperwork has been streamlined and flows in a more coherent and user friendly way.”

Phase One

The health recording documents are currently being used and reviewed in selected services in Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes, Warrington, and Shrewsbury. The services were chosen to represent a wide and diverse set of services and to ensure we could get feedback from the Nurses within certain services. The documents will become available to all other services across MacIntyre in April 2018.

Workshops and training

The workshops for health recording will be held face-to-face and will enable you to access the eLearning on My MacIntyre. The workshop will give you the chance to ask questions and leave with confidence that you understand how to use the Health Calendar and health recording documents within your service.

The eLearning really supports the Health Calendar and brings it to life. You will be able to dip in and out of the eLearning once you have attended a workshop. We have made it as easy as possible for staff to access the documents they need, which can currently be accessed under ‘Health Documents to Download’.

Health Calendar

Using the Health Calendar is mandatory for all services where we have responsibility for supporting people with their health needs, as we know there is no better way of capturing a person’s health history and changes. We also know this will support a person with receiving a timely diagnosis of any condition, which is one of our key objectives.

“Patterns of behaviour and health concerns are picked up much more efficiently and in a timely manner.”

Easy Read

We knew it was important to create Easy Read documents for everything we are producing. This is being supported and put together by the Keep Going…….Don’t Stop! group in Chesterfield. 

If a person is able to use the health recording documents themselves or with support, we see no reason for staff to use both health recording documents and Easy Read health recording documents, as all can be done using the Easy Read documents in order to ensure the person being supported is involved in their health needs and changes.

No duplication

Through the feedback and review process, we have been clear that we do not want to see duplication and we are aware that existing documents already work for some services. Therefore, if something is not working for you, or if you want a document tweaked, please let us know and we will support you with this. The Health Calendar covers 12 areas of health, and within Phase One, it replaced documents and paperwork and made recording health much easier within teams.

Supporting health recording documents

The supporting health recording documents are ‘pick and mix’, so each service can decide what is relevant or useful to them as a team. From a best practice perspective, we suggest that if you do not have a good alternative to our health recording documents, you use what we have provided.

Practitioner's perspective

Don’t just take our word for it! Rowan Jackson, Frontline Manager for services in Shrewsbury, implemented the Health Calendar and other health recording documents into four new services. 

“I am so pleased with the way the Daily Progress notes are working, we have replaced all the Daily Diaries with them and the quality of recording has improved unbelievably! The way the form is set out enables the Senior Support Workers to focus and reflect on the day/shift with the person we support and to record relevant and quality information that really means something.

Patterns of behaviour and health concerns are picked up much more efficiently and in a timely manner, which helps us to be responsive to the needs of the people we support. When we fill out the Daily Progress Notes we do these with the people we are writing about, which has been a great way for our new staff to get to know the people they are supporting and vice versa, building relationships and learning about each other.

Using the Health Calendar and its supporting documents has meant all our paperwork has been streamlined and flows in a more coherent and user friendly way. Recording is now part of the daily routine for the people we support as they are fully involved, which removes the complacency that can creep in when using a Daily Diary. We are therefore able to pick up positives and negatives as and when they occur and can respond straight away.”

To find out more, or if you have any questions, please contact Nicola Payne by emailing [javascript protected email address]