People are living longer and care services need to accommodate the high demand. There are currently 11.8 million people aged 65 or over in the UK according to the Office for National Statistics, and this is predicted to rise by over 40% to 16million within the next 17 years. According to the NHS there was 1,811,000 requests for support at home, 72% (1,303,920) of these requests were from clients ages 65 or over. Care is also provided in care homes with 416,000 people living in these facilities. 4% of people aged 65 and over live in care homes, this rises to 16% for those ages 85 and over.

Most people know someone who has required care, this may be a family member or friend, and maybe even they have needed help themselves. These services are vital for the client and their support network of friends and family. Care in the community enables people to maintain a level of independence and care homes provide a safe place for people who need 24hour support. These services are also vital for family and friends as they can continue to work for example. One of the biggest issues around care services is the lack of transparency regarding information. If you work or do not live locally to the client receiving care you may only be able to visit a few times a week. If they had a fall or an incident often you do not find out until you are there in person, this can lead to a feeling of guilt. Information allows us to know exactly how a person is doing and informs us of any issues.

Most care services work with paper-based systems and folders that are left at a person’s house, or that are carried around a nursing home and filled in throughout the day. The issue with this is that the folders cannot be accessed unless you are at the location. Often the handwriting is not legible, or if you cannot get access to the folder you can spend your time asking for information in a busy environment, which can result in frustration.

It is easy for us to find out what our friends done at the weekend, yet we struggle to find out information about someone in a care setting. Often care assistants and nurses have so much to do that they cannot physically get the time to discuss a client. I believe information should be easily accessed in a way that is easy to understand. We live surrounded by technology, yet the care industry is left behind with countless folders filled with information that is not easy to find and understand.

With a population living longer we need to change the way that information is stored in a care setting. The current statistics of people receiving care results in 2,227,000 records on people, a majority of which will be kept in a paper-based system. We store most things digitally now and I believe that healthcare needs to move into the digital age.