Before beginning its journey with Onecom, Fosse Healthcare had a standard cloud VoIP phone system that would suffice for most offices. However, the company recognised the need for a more robust system that could handle the critical nature of emergency phone calls, ensuring that its clients receive the utmost care and attention.

In the field, Fosse Healthcare relied on traditional, and sometimes paper-based, methods to collect, organise, and access information relating to care recipients. This increased the strain on on-the-ground care professionals themselves, who were having to write up paper notes after visiting clients. This left room for error and had implications on time management and efficiency. While these methods might have once been fit for purpose, the organisation wanted to modernise its approach to keep up with the ever-evolving healthcare industry and provide an even higher standard of care to its clients and carers.

Ensuring home-visit carers were meeting the standards set by the company proved to be a challenge for management.
 
Due to the personal nature of the client- carer relationship, Fosse Healthcare needed to ensure its staff were arriving on time, working their entire shift, and administering medication accurately.

In a highly regulated industry (Fosse Healthcare are monitored by the Care Quality Commission CQC) it’s vital that care is delivered to the highest standards.

Fosse Healthcare considered the option of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and ask staff to use their own devices.However, this raised a number of data protection concerns, which could breach CQC standards.

Another challenge presented itself in pricing. With the country facing double-digit inflation, pricing has become a sensitive issue for businesses in any sector. The social care industry is already a low-margin, high-volume industry and cost is a significant factor that requires consideration.

Therefore, Onecom had to ensure that any solution provided to Fosse Healthcare was as cost-effective as possible.

From the start, it was essential that Fosse Healthcare’s office-based staff had a seamless and uninterrupted flow of communication with its front-line team, clients, and queries. To address this, Onecom introduced a Vodafone One Net system, which fully integrates mobiles to desk phones, enabling the team to make and receive calls from anywhere. At this stage, Onecom provided 50 mobiles and 25 desk phones to facilitate the One Net system.

Fosse Healthcare experienced a higher demand for its services during the pandemic. As a result, the company needed greater flexibility to cater for a growing team and remote monitoring to monitor staff performance and collect the necessary data to improve the quality of care provided. However, the company already had users in offices serviced by broadband, and One Net required users to have their own Vodafone Fibre connectivity, which could not support Fosse Healthcare’s ongoing growth.
 
To address these challenges, Onecom and Fosse Healthcare worked together to develop a two-layered solution covering care delivery, and logistics. Fosse Healthcare purchased 1,000 TCL Android phones from Onecom, which were cost-effective and offered the necessary functionality, including GPS tracking for staff.

To monitor care staff and ensure complete visibility of data, Onecom introduced SOTI, a Mobile Device Management (MDM) system. This allows remote installation of software updates, configuration of settings, and troubleshooting of issues. Device usage can be tracked, and policies enforced to stay compliant with various industry regulations and standards.

GPS tracking on the TCL devices is essential for safeguarding and to determine the location of a device at a specific time. Combined with 800 licenses of the SOTI system, Fosse Healthcare staff can remotely access the device and assist the carer if needed. Additionally, SOTI enables the organisation to choose how devices are used and restrict apps and features if needed, such as disabling the camera to safeguard clients.

To complement the new system, Fosse Healthcare started using a tool called People Planner from The Access Group, which records medication, care planning, tasks and outcomes.

Onecom Vox, the complete unified communications solution, allows Fosse Healthcare staff to communicate and collaborate effectively, regardless of their location. The ability to transfer information quickly and efficiently enhances employee productivity and experience by providing access to a range of multi-channel communications accessed by a single application on their devices. With the ability to quickly redirect important calls, the team can patch through to the relevant person without any interruption.

Overall, Onecom’s solutions and support has enabled Fosse Healthcare to embark on a transformational journey, boosting the productivity and efficiency of its teams and delivering an even higher standard of care to clients.

Real-time recording and auditing of key data enable the team to address issues promptly. For example, the device management system can alert staff of statistics such as undelivered medication, or carers arriving late to appointments.

Through these technological advancements, senior staff can manage poor performance with greater precision and data-driven insight.
This approach is important in an industry where any feedback carries reputational risk.

Fosse Healthcare’s use of technology and innovation has been shortlisted for two national awards, at Local Government Chronicle and Healthcare Service Journal this year.